GRANDVIEW, Mo. — The United States Postal Inspection Service needs your help.
James Waits, a USPS letter carrier in Grandview, was robbed at gunpoint at 12:20 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15, near the 6600 block of East 134th St.
"He looked a little sketchy, so I kept my eyes on him," Waits said. "Then, right when he got out of my peripheral vision, he was right behind me and he just wanted what I had."
Not even 30 days on the job, Waits says it happened within seconds.
"He walked up on me, grabbed both keys, wallet, phone and walked away," Waits said. "I waved someone down on the street to take me back to the station, and they asked me what happened. I talked to them, and police were there in 5 minutes. Anthony came and made sure I was alright, and everyone was just trying to see if I was okay."
Waits is talking about Anthony Ealy, who has been a USPS letter carrier for 30 years.
Ealy is the president of the local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. He reached out to KSHB 41 after this incident occurred.
"What happened to one of our letter carriers is very unfortunate, and it really shouldn't happen," Ealy said. "I don't want it to happen anymore."
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service reports cases like these are not common locally with USPS letter carriers. However, nationwide data shows crimes against USPS letter carriers spiked between 2019 and 2023.
"Thankfully, we've been very fortunate, unlike other areas of the nation that have been hit pretty hard with these," said Paul Shade, USPS postal inspector.
Although it's not common locally, it's taken very seriously, which is why there's a reward of up to $150,000 for anyone who has any information leading to an arrest and conviction of the suspect in this crime.
"It doesn't matter if it happens once or happens 100 times, we take these things very seriously," Shade said. "We've got a dedicated team that go out and investigate these."
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Shade says the U.S. Postal Inspection Service works in conjunction with local and other federal authorities.
"So we do everything we can to bring them to a successful conclusion," Shade said.
Whether 30 days on the job or 30 years, letter carriers are hoping you just keep an extra eye out for them.
"We want to go home to our families," Ealy said. "I know they (neighbors) take care of us, the only thing that I ask is just continue to look after us as we're doing our job every single day that we love to do."
Waits says he's back at work and still enjoys what he does.
Anyone with information related to the crime is encouraged to call 1-877-876-2455 and say, "LAW ENFORCEMENT." The reference case number is 4362340ROBB.
All information will be kept confidential.
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