BOSTON — A Boston man is charged with the alleged armed robbery of a postal worker in Peabody in early January, and remains detained pending a hearing set for Monday, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins said in a statement.
Anthony Diaz, 20, faces charges of forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, and interfering with a United States Postal Employee while they were engaged in the performance of their official duties. He allegedly did so by use of a deadly weapon, a firearm, the statement said. He is also charged with assaulting a person having lawful charge, custody, and control of United States mail, money, and other property with the intent to rob, steal, and purloin it.
Diaz made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Worcester on Wednesday after he was arrested on Feb. 17, the statement said.
On Jan. 4 in Peabody, Diaz allegedly approached a USPS mail carrier and demanded the keys to open mailboxes in the area while pointing a semi-automatic pistol at him. After the mail carrier handed Diaz the key to his vehicle, Diaz allegedly ordered, “give me the rest of the keys,” and “hurry up or I’ll shoot you,” the statement said.
The mail carrier then removed the key chain containing the mailbox key, known as an “arrow key,” and asked if he could have his vehicle key back. At that point, Diaz allegedly turned away, put the gun in his jacket pocket, and walked directly to a dark grey sedan parked in the area of 3A Veterans Memorial Drive. He allegedly stopped at the rear of the vehicle with the trunk open before driving away, the statement said.
Since July 2022, there have been at least 12 assaults on USPS mail carriers while carrying out their official duties in Boston and surrounding cities and towns, the statement said. This includes the attempted or successful robbery of USPS Arrow Keys from mail carriers in at least 10 instances. Of those 10, six of the robberies were instances where the perpetrators were reportedly armed with a knife, firearm, or both.
“The national trend of threatening, assaulting, and robbing United States postal employees for Arrow Keys has sadly made its way to Massachusetts. Postal workers are essential to countless aspects of our community and often go to great lengths to provide their invaluable services, at times in incredibly challenging circumstances,” said Rollins. “I commend the excellent investigative work by our USPIS partners, and issue a warning to anyone seeking to harm postal workers for financial gain: you will be identified, apprehended, and prosecuted in federal court.”
The charges Diaz faces carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison if he is convicted on both counts.
