5 arrested in Hillsborough mail carrier robberies amid nationwide spike in crimes against postal workers
TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. - Federal authorities announced the arrests of five people Friday in two separate mail carrier robberies in Hillsborough County. It comes amid a nationwide rise in crimes targeting postal workers.
According to a criminal complaint, on September 5, Jordan Michelle Brown, 20, Jordan Murray, 19, and Darine Underwood, 18, robbed a letter carrier at gunpoint as the carrier was delivering mail at a Temple Terrace apartment complex.
Investigators said Brown, Murray, and Underwood held the mail carrier at gunpoint while demanding his keys, before grabbing his cell phone, smashing it on the ground and running to their getaway vehicle. The three suspects have been charged with armed robbery and aiding and abetting the armed robbery of a United States Postal Mail Carrier.
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A second criminal complaint alleges Christopher Raymond, 20, and Andre Hylton, 19, both of Miramar, robbed two carriers as they were on their routes in South Tampa on September 21. Raymond and Hylton are accused of pointing a firearm at one of the carriers and demanding his serialized keys, known as "arrow keys."
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Investigators said Raymond and Hylton were identified through GPS data from their vehicle which revealed that they had traveled from Miramar to Tampa for the purpose of committing the armed robberies. Their charges include armed robbery and aiding and abetting the armed robbery of a United States Postal Mail Carrier.
"Although these two crimes are not connected, there's a lot that these cases have in common," said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg, referring to criminals attempting to steal the arrow keys, which can be used to unlock things like neighborhood collection boxes, apartment mailbox panels and parcel lockers. "Let this be a message to anyone who seeks to commit an armed robbery of a postal carrier. Robbing a postal carrier is not a path to riches. It is a path to investigation, arrest, indictment, conviction and prison."
During a news conference in Tampa, Assistant Postal Inspector in Charge Bladismir Rojo said the thefts of arrow keys have fueled a rise in crimes targeting mail carriers across the country. Rojo said there have been 12 arrests connected to seven different letter carrier robberies in his district, which includes the Tampa Bay area, since 2021.
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"Letter carriers throughout the country go into every neighborhood, every day, six days a week, and four, sometimes seven days a week, and they should be safe," Rojo said.
Rojo added, in an attempt to decrease the number of these crimes, the U.S. Postal Service is beginning to use electronic arrow keys that can be deactivated if stolen.