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USPS honors Tampa postal worker killed on the job
Evan Axelbank reports
TAMPA, Fla. - The USPS honored one of its own on Friday who was struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash in Tampa earlier this month.
Paul Falica was driving his USPS truck on December 18 in the Sulphur Springs neighborhood of Tampa when it was struck and overturned, killing him.
With a police escort, 40 letter carriers dispatched from the Sulphur Springs Post Office on Nebraska Avenue, and went to the intersection at East River Cove and North Mulberry Street – where the crash occurred – for Friday's procession.
READ: Tampa mail carrier dead after USPS truck overturns in hit-and-run
"I'm more emotional now than I thought I would be," said postal customer Danini Gonzalez. "To see them, you know, to think that it could have been any of them that just went by."
Postal workers and their customers said the procession is proof that letter carriers are a crucial part of the community.
Procession held for Tampa mailman
"A lady came up and said Paul was everything to us," said Tampa postmaster Jackie Villemaire. "He brought us a kind word every day. And [she said] we hate to see him gone."
Falica was born in New York but moved to Florida in 1993. He had been a letter carrier for 40 years and served his route in Sulphur Springs for 30 of those years.
READ: Driver accused of killing beloved Tampa mailman arrested
He was known for being early to work, and always in a pressed uniform.
"Us as human beings, we have feelings, and we need to make sure that everybody understands that we're all in this together, and we do the best we can for our people," said Lewers.
This is the first ever procession in Tampa for a letter carrier killed while on the job. Falica was just about to retire.
"It's an incredible testimony to a very good man," said Villemaire. "Paul cared about his people. And cared about his coworkers, and it was just obvious and evident today."
READ: Tampa mailman killed: Judge orders hit-and-run suspect to remain behind bars
Christopher Prater was arrested days later and charged with Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Death, among other things, in connection with Falica's death.
Prater was ordered to remain behind bars without bond last week. A Hillsborough County judge sided with prosecutors, denying Prater the chance to post bond before his trial despite his saying that he "ain't never driving no more, man."