USPS officials advise picking up mail from the box immediately. | Mick Haupt/Unsplash
USPS officials advise picking up mail from the box immediately. | Mick Haupt/Unsplash
The U.S. Postal Service is warning residents to pick up their mail promptly after delivery following two separate robberies.
The Postal Service issued the warning after a Duluth postal worker was forced to give up his master key to the mailboxes he was servicing, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
"The safety and well-being of Postal Service employees is a top priority for the Postal Inspection Service," the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said in a statement. "Postal Inspectors are working closely with the Duluth Police Department in this ongoing investigation and to maintain the integrity of the case no further information can be provided. We are advising anyone to follow these tips to protect your mail from thieves by picking up your mail promptly after delivery and do not leave it in your mailbox overnight. Also, if you don't receive a check or other valuable mail you're expecting, contact the issuing agency immediately. You can also report all suspected mail theft to the Postal Inspection Service at www.uspis.gov/report."
The first incident occurred on Jan. 29, when Cobb County police were called after a Postal Service employee was robbed while delivering mail to an apartment complex, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. The thief stole her mail key and phone at gunpoint. The stolen key corresponds to mailboxes in the 30339 ZIP code.
A second robbery took place on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth on Feb. 1, when a postal worker was accosted by three men in ski masks while putting mail into his vehicle at an apartment complex, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. The worker was threatened with a weapon before relinquishing his master key, Postal Service scanner, and laptop.
The suspects escaped in what officials believe is a dark-blue Dodge Journey. Police were able to locate the scanner, which had been abandoned, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. The stolen key opens mailboxes in ZIP codes 30096 and 30097.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and police in Cobb County and Duluth urge any victims of mail theft or anybody with knowledge of the incident to report it, Fox 5 Atlanta reported
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