A large cash reward is available to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest after two postal carriers were robbed recently in Boston.
The United States Postal Service has released surveillance video of a postal carrier being confronted on Stonecrest Road in the city's Mattapan neighborhood in the middle of the afternoon last Wednesday.
In September, there was a similar attack in Dorchester.
Investigators say the suspect in this incident was in a silver sedan with the word "antisocial" written on the rear windshield.
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There has been a string of assaults on postal carriers in eastern Massachusetts over the last year, from Randolph to Lowell to Melrose.
"I think it's terrible," said Laryce Blake who lives on Stonecrest Road. "They're just trying to make their living, do their job, and it's also sad for the residents, because we don't know where our mail's going. It's a problem that needs to be solved."
Criminals have been targeting letter carriers for mail and special universal keys that open up mailboxes.
"None of us are getting the million dollar checks, so we don't know exactly what they are searching for, and it's invasive," said Jeannette Sisco, who also lives on Stonecrest.
There has been a surge in such incidents nationwide, leading the USPS to increase the reward money for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of anyone caught committing crimes against letter carriers.
The postal service has also been installing more blue collection boxes with higher security, and replacing universal keys with electronic locks.
It's an effort to fight the spike in threats and attacks by thieves stealing mail.
So far, the two recent incidents in Boston remain unsolved.
The reward is $150,000 for critical information.
