The United States Postal Inspection Service is offering two $50,000 rewards after at three mail carriers in and around Chicago were held at gunpoint over the span of just two days.
The first incident occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 3200 block of North Kildare, when a 52-year-old mail-carrier was shot during an attempted robbery, according to police.
According to officials, two people approached the carrier, and one of them pulled out a gun and fired, striking the carrier in the leg. He was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
Just fifteen minutes later, around 3:45 p.m., another carrier was robbed at gunpoint in the 1800 block of North Sawyer in Logan Square. The postal service said the two robberies may be related and released a description of one of the suspects and the car used.
The car was described as a stolen white Kia sedan with the Illinois license plate BF73931. One suspect was described as wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt, gray pants with “Reebok” wrapped around the left pant leg, Jordan sneakers with a blue crown emblem and blue stripes, and a backwards blue cap with stickers on the cap’s orange bill.
One day later, a mail carrier was robbed in Berwyn, in the 1400 block of Homes Avenue.
Two suspects, one armed with a handgun, robbed a letter-carrier and stole their bag, according to officials.
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The suspects fled the scene in a silver Toyota Highlander with Illinois license plate CS86136, according to officials. The vehicle had previously been reported stolen from Chicago.
The suspects are still at-large, and the letter-carrier was unharmed in the incident, officials said.
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$50,000 rewards have been offered in connection with both Tuesdays and Wednesdays cases, the United States Postal Service said. Anyone with information can call the postal service at (877) 876-2455.
A report from the Chicago Sun Time said robberies of mail carriers have tripled in the last three years.
Elise Foster, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers branch in Chicago, said the U.S. Postal Service hasn’t done enough to address it.
Criminals target letter carriers for their master keys that unlock mailboxes throughout a ZIP code. With those keys, they can steal mail, allowing them to wash and rewrite checks, or sell the keys to other criminals.
In June, a postal worker was robbed at gunpoint while delivering mail in the Beverly neighborhood.
On Monday, thieves used a saw to cut open a public mailbox outside a post office in south suburban Orland Park. Police urged anyone who used the mailbox at 9500 West 144th Place to monitor their accounts for unusual activity.
