Mail carrier robberies are on the rise amid the holiday season. They’re even being held up at gunpoint. Damian Trujillo reports.
Mail carrier robberies are on the rise amid the holiday season. They're even being held up at gunpoint.
Due to this, Bay Area mail carriers are being extra vigilant during the holidays.
USPS postal worker Nahima Aguiniga said she knows she’s going to bring smiles to many families when they open what she’s delivering, a card, a letter or a present.
“We make sure that that kid that’s getting a present from Santa Claus, get sit. Especially if it says from Santa Claus, and it’s from grandma, or grandpa. We make sure that it gets delivered,” she said.
While some might see her as Santa Claus along her route, Aguiniga said that she knows the grinch could be lurking around every corner.
“Literally we have to have that sensory on. Like spiderman, stronger than usual because of the simple fact that every little crack on the ground, you have to turn around and make sure who it is,” she said.
Robbers have been increasingly targeting mail carriers. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported 600 robberies involving postal workers in the last fiscal year.
That was up seven-fold from 2019. Just recently, the U.S. Postal Inspector released surveillance video of two recent robberies in Vallejo and Antioch.
Both incidents involved guns and there is a $150,000 reward for whoever helps solve each case.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
“It is scary as a female carrier because you don’t know what to do. You don’t know what to expect. Sometimes you don’t know how to handle the situation and you ty to do it the best you can,” Aguiniga said.
The GAO reports said there are several crime fighting operations in areas known as hot spots.
But in most cases, Aguiniga said that she has to rely on her instincts and on the hope that she stays safe along her route.
