Attacks on the postal service keep happening nationwide and in Hampton Roads.
It’s a problem the News 3 Investigative Team continues to follow through on.
On July 11, a mail carrier was attacked on his route in a quiet Virginia Beach neighborhood.
Watch: Law enforcement seeing results from Flock safety cameras
Jim Hordeski lives down the street from where a letter carrier was robbed. He has known the carrier for years and considers him a friend.
“You don’t stick a gun in somebody’s face,” said Hordeski. He's angry about what happened on Dandelion Crescent in Virginia Beach.
“I have zero respect for any criminal and I think they need to get a job,” said Hordeski, “Come on really? Putting somebody’s life in danger for a key. That’s just wrong in my book.”
Across the nation, it’s an epidemic: criminals are robbing letter carriers for arrow keys — the keys can open blue boxes and mailboxes for an entire zip code.
“Unfortunately, the postal service has been exposed as an easy target,” said Frank Albergo, the national president of the Postal Police Officers Association.
Watch: Instagram post about partying gets convicted mail thief sent back to jail
The United State Postal Inspection Service just issued their 2023 annual report. It states that they saw a dramatic rise in letter carrier robberies and related mail theft.
Albergo said he delivered mail for six years and the biggest thing he feared was dogs, but now postal carriers have way more to worry about — like bullets and guns.
In the recent Virginia Beach case, detectives got security cameras from neighbors then utilized the Flock license plate reader technology to make an arrest.
Watch: Flock cameras are aiding in investigations
Det. Gerard Dalina with the Virginia Beach Police Robbery Squad said, “I've been doing this for almost 20 years now, with two different departments, and I've never had any tool like this.”
Dalina said Flock has significantly helped him solve several crimes.
The Flock technology is recognition software that uses real-time data and captures things like license plates to help track down suspects.
Police praise neighbors for sharing their video along with Hampton Police and the US Postal Service for all working together.
“There was a lot of hands in this investigation. It was a great team effort in solving this in a short amount of time,” said Dalina.
Watch: Chesapeake men gets 7 years for robbing postal carrier, bank fraud
On July 17, 2024, Hampton police located the vehicle along they were looking for, along with 27-year-old Cameron Brown of Portsmouth.
They arrested him and charged him with felony evade & elude, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of stolen firearm, reckless handling of firearm, and possession of machine gun.
On July 31, 2024, VBPD said they secured warrants for Brown related to the July 11 incident in Virginia Beach, to include robbery, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, conspiracy to commit robbery, and felony wearing a mask inpublic.
Watch: More USPS workers getting robbed while delivering your mail
Brown was served with the warrants on Aug. 7, 2024 while in custody at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail.
The U.S. Postal Service said they’re upgrading technology with blue boxes and replacing the arrow keys with electronic key as they continue to try and crack down on these crimes.
Hordeski said his friend and mail carrier was back at work delivering mail the same day as the robbery.
Police were also impressed with the mail carrier’s dedication to his job and mission.
