Cops busted the guy who allegedly stole a postal worker’s “master key” on Feb. 13 when they saw him the next day hauling bags of letters from a mailbox to the getaway car he used in the mugging.
Officials say the 21-year-old New Jersey resident robbed the postal worker in the lobby of his apartment building at Marine Avenue near 96th Street by pretending he had a gun in his pocket. The kid demanded to know the mailman’s route and then told him to fork over the key, which opens mailboxes along the route, investigators said.
The suspect did not even try to hide his crime, according to police, who said they saw him three blocks from where the robbery was committed, wearing plain clothes and dragging bags of ill-gotten mail into the same white Nissan cops say he used as an escape vehicle the day before.
Officials are charging the man with robbery, criminal possession of stolen property, petit larceny, and criminal possession of burglars tools, according to a police spokesman. They also arrested a second man allegedly acting as a getaway driver on Tuesday and charged him with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, according to police.
Anyone worried that they have been a victim of mail theft can contact the postal inspection service at (877) 876–2455, and can report suspicious activity near a mailbox by calling the postal service’s 24-hour emergency hotline at (212) 330–2400 and should call 911 immediately, Harris said.
