Man in Berkeley robs USPS mail carrier via threats of a gun

A man claiming to have a gun robbed a mail carrier in Berkeley of her keys on Friday afternoon and then fled the scene, authorities report.

Details were limited as of publication time.

But police said the man approached the woman in the 2400 block of Ellsworth Street, near Channing Way, just before 12:40 p.m.

He claimed to have a gun and took all of her keys, Berkeley police said.

The man fled westbound on Channing in a newer white sedan, according to preliminary information.

Officers tried to stop a vehicle matching that description shortly after the crime but the driver fled into Oakland at high speed and managed to escape, BPD said.

Robberies of Bay Area mail carriers have become more common in recent years.

In at least one of those incidents, which took place in Oakland in May, the U.S. Postal Service offered a $150,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, NBC Bay Area reported earlier this year.

This week, ABC7 reported that 61% of postal worker robberies in California last year happened in the Bay Area.

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