Thieves target mail truck parked in Berkeley
It happened the same week a masked individual robbed a mail carrier on her route, taking all of her postal keys via threats of a gun.
Thieves broke into a mail truck parked in Berkeley last week, stealing mail while the carrier was busy making deliveries, authorities report.
The incident happened the same week a masked individual robbed a Berkeley postal worker on her route, taking all of her postal keys via threats of a gun.
U.S. Postal Inspector Matthew Norfleet, an agency spokesman, said the mail truck break-in took place July 17 at the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Dwight Way in central Berkeley at about 11:40 a.m.
(A reader alerted The Scanner to the incident late last week and asked for more details.)
Emilie Raguso
The mail carrier robbery took place two days later, at about 12:40 p.m. in the 1400 block of Ellsworth Street.
In that incident, Norfleet said, "a robber approached a mail carrier on her route, grabbed postal keys and then fled in a white four-door sedan" that had been backed into a small parking lot near Ellsworth and Haste streets.
The robber was described as male and wore a black mask that covered his entire head. He fled northbound on Ellsworth before turning left onto Channing Way.
U.S. Postal Service offers rewards for crime-solving tips
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, offers substantial rewards for tips that help solve crimes related to its operations.
The agency offers rewards of up to $150,000 for information leading to arrests and convictions related to the robbery of a postal worker.
There are also rewards of up to $100,000 for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of mail thieves.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service asks anyone with information or security footage related to mail crimes to dial 877-876-2455, 24 hours a day, or visit the agency online at uspis.gov.
"We also encourage your readers in the area to report anything missing from the mail that could have been out for delivery at that time, particularly financial instruments like checks or credit cards that may turn up in the wrong hands even weeks or months from now," Norfleet said.
Mail carrier robberies: Rare in Berkeley, but not the Bay Area
Norfleet told The Scanner he had not seen any other reports this year about mail carrier robberies in Berkeley, "although they are depressingly frequent across the Bay Area and the country," he said.
Mail truck break-ins are a different matter, he said, with numerous reports in Berkeley and nearby communities.
"Mail carriers work hard on behalf of everyone in the community and it is outrageous and unacceptable for them to face threats of violence while doing their jobs," Norfleet said.
