Boston Man Charged In Gunpoint Robbery Of Peabody Mail Carrier

PEABODY, MA — A 20-year-old Boston man was charged in the January gunpoint robbery of a U.S. mail carrier on Veterans Memorial Drive in Peabody.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said the arrest comes amid a statewide rise in crimes against postal carriers where suspects steal "Arrow Keys" used to open U.S. Postal Service blue collection boxes and then take mail that includes checks and personal information.

Anthony Diaz, 20, of Boston, appeared in U.S. Federal Court in Worcester on Tuesday to face 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, with use of a deadly weapon.

Peabody police said that on Jan. 4 the mail carrier on Veterans Memorial Drive reported that he was approached from behind at about 12:30 p.m. and that the suspect brandished a black gun and demanded his keys to the postal boxes.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in court documents accused Diaz of pointing a semi-automatic pistol at the victim, demanding that he "give me the keys" and to "hurry up or I'll shoot you."

The victim said he removed his keychain, which was attached to his belt, containing his USPS Arrow Key, and asked if he could have his vehicle key back. The victim said Diaz put the gun in his right jacket pocket, walked to a dark gray sedan parked on Veterans Memorial Drive, stopped at the rear of the car with the trunk open, then got in the driver's seat and drove away.

Diaz was arrested on Feb. 17 and was detained on Tuesday pending a hearing set for Monday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said that since July 2022 there have been at least 12 assaults on USPS letter carriers while in the performance of their official duties in Boston and surrounding
cities and towns. These incidents included the attempted or successful robbery of USPS Arrow Keys from letter carriers in at least 10 instances.

Six of the robberies were instances where the perpetrators were reportedly armed with a knife, gun, or both.

"The national trend of threatening, assaulting and robbing United States postal employees for Arrow Keys has sadly made its way to Massachusetts," U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said. "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.

"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."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)