PEABODY, MASS. (WHDH) - A Boston man has been arrested and charged in connection with the armed robbery of a mail carrier in Peabody last month, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Massachusetts announced on Tuesday.
Officials said Anthony Diaz, 20, held up the USPS worker at gunpoint on Jan. 4 before taking off with the keys to the worker’s mail truck. Officials said the man also took keys to blue mail collection boxes in the area.
The man was arrested on Feb. 17, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. He appeared in court in Worcester on Tuesday, where he was held pending a hearing currently set for Feb. 27, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
The man is facing multiple charges.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Officials announcing this arrest noted what they said has been a rise in the use of “Arrow Keys” to steal mail. The keys are used to open designated blue collection boxes in a specific area.
“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 Rollins said in a statement.
Rollins commended investigative efforts in this case.
Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division Darnell Edwards separately called this arrest “a true team effort.”
“Let today’s arrest serve as an example to criminals: if you target U.S. Postal Service employees and accost them with a gun, you will be identified and prosecuted,” Edwards said.
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