Man charged after stealing mail carrier’s master keys at gunpoint near Spanaway
A 33-year-old man who allegedly robbed a United States Postal Service worker at gunpoint Monday was charged with robbery, taking a motor vehicle without permission and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, according to a Pierce County Superior Court affidavit filed Wednesday.
His bail is set at $100,000, according to the order establishing conditions for his release.
Crimes against postal workers have increased in recent years, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. There were nearly 1,200 serious crime cases against postal workers and property in 2023, up from about 600 in 2019. Robbery cases increased by almost seven times over that period, according to a 2024 report which found “that these robberies have generally targeted letter carriers, increasingly involved firearms, and targeted the universal keys which USPS employees use to access mailboxes.”
Pierce County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched at about 11:47 a.m. March 31 to a call about an armed robbery in the 3800 block of 212th Street Court East, in the Elk Plain area near Spanaway. The affidavit gave the following details based on the police report:
The victim from USPS “appeared visibly shaken” when deputies arrived. He told deputies that he entered the neighborhood at about 10:30 a.m. to begin his postal route. After parking his van and approaching a mailbox in front of 212th Street Court East and 40th Avenue East, the victim left his master mailbox key in the mail slot and was sitting inside his van when he saw a maroon Kia pull up behind him.
The driver of the Kia got out and silently pointed a gun at the victim, still sitting in the van. The suspect then grabbed the mail key out of the mailbox and drove away. The master key unlocks all the mailboxes in a certain area, the postal service employee told deputies.
The victim tried to pursue the Kia, but was unsuccessful. He contacted his supervisor, who reported the incident.
Surveillance footage from license plate cameras at the housing development’s two entrances captured the maroon Kia’s direction of travel out of the neighborhood and its license plate. The vehicle headed southbound on 38th Avenue East and then eastbound on 214th Street East, and the license plate came up linked to a 2013 Ford Fusion.
About 15 minutes later, Lakewood police said they had located the suspect vehicle and were pursuing it. The officer reported that he was driving a fully marked police patrol vehicle in uniform in the area of 108th Street Southwest and 47th Avenue Southwest when he recognized the Kia from photos shared with law enforcement agencies. He turned on his patrol car siren and lights and pursued the Kia, joined by another officer after the Kia turned eastbound onto Pacific Street Southwest, and stopped the Kia with a PIT maneuver as the Kia approached Lakeview Avenue Southwest.
Officers determined that the vehicle, which had been disguised as a Ford Fusion vehicle with matching emblems, was a stolen 2017 Kia Optima out of Tacoma. Police also spotted a black handgun, later identified as a pellet gun, under the driver’s seat and an athletic-type face mask on the center console that matched the victim’s description of a mask allegedly worn by the suspect.
The suspect who allegedly stole the mailbox keys was the driver of the vehicle, and three passengers were inside. The suspect and driver told law enforcement that he had picked up the vehicle from a friend and went for a drive, then drove to his aunt’s house. He denied that the items visible in the front seat belonged to him. Law enforcement records showed that the suspect had a warrant for his arrest after escaping community custody under the Department of Corrections. The other vehicle occupants said the driver picked them up and drove them to a smoke shop, after which the suspect fled from Lakewood police.
One of the deputies saw a set of keys in the center console of the vehicle “that appeared to be consistent with the description of the stolen postal keys.”
