$150,000 reward offered for suspect who robbed postal worker of keys in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The United States Postal Inspection Service needs the public's help identifying a person who they say robbed a letter carrier of keys to collection boxes in Philadelphia.

They say the thieves are typically after the checks you've put in the mail.

It happened on Valentine's Day just before 5 p.m. along Elmwood Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. Authorities say the man brandished a gun during the crime.

The postal inspector is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person in surveillance video and pictures released Friday.

"One of our founding and core missions is the theft of mail and violence against carriers, and we're talking about both of those here," said US Postal Inspector George Clark.

"We're actively -- as an agency and aggressively across the country, including here in Philadelphia -- investigating people who steal these keys, and then wash these checks and we're gonna bring some number of them to justice," added Clark.

This latest incident is part of a disturbing trend, in recent months, across the Philadelphia region.

In January, Action News reported on a similar robbery in University City.

Last summer, a mail carrier in Fairfield Township, Cumberland County, NJ was attacked and had her keys stolen, and in Vineland, NJ a mail carrier was sprayed with bear spray.

According to the National Association of Letter Carriers Keystone Branch 157, there have been almost 60 incidents in the last two years in the Philadelphia area.

In this most recent case, the letter carrier wasn't hurt, but Clark says postal workers shouldn't be subject to this kind of danger on the job.

"These people are just out doing a job like the vast majority of us are, and they should be able to do so free of violence, free of fear," Clark said.

Assaulting a postal worker is a federal crime that can come with harsher penalties.

If you have any information about the February incident or any other, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service can be reached at 1-877-876-2455 or www.uspis.gov