Baton Rouge mail carrier’s master key stolen in midday mugging

BATON ROUGE – A key that grants unfettered access to an undisclosed number of mailboxes in the Baton Rouge area has been stolen by armed robbers after they followed a letter carrier on his delivery route in Sherwood Meadows. 

“I’ve seen the postman a couple of times ride through here. He comes, delivers the mail. The mail comes on time,” one neighbor said. 

The victim told police he was attacked about 4 p.m. on June 16 on Hermadel Drive off Old Hammond Highway according to a search warrant filed in the case.

“It’s a little nerve-wracking. Normally, this is a safe, quiet neighborhood,” another neighbor said. 

The mailman said a vehicle tailed him through the neighborhood and then swooped in front of him and stopped. Two masked men with guns jumped out. They demanded the key that “opens all of the mailboxes,” and one robber shoved his gun into the mailman’s ribs, the warrant said.

That robber also demanded his wallet but the other robber said they should get away quickly, so they sped away in the waiting vehicle.

No arrests have been made in the case. Another post office employee was targeted in a similar robbery last year, which led to a wave of check thefts from mailboxes which, in turn, led to hundreds of instances of bank fraud.

Recently, there’s been an increase in car break-ins in the area. 

“I was in my room, heard the alarm go off, came outside, didn’t see anything wrong with the car,” one neighbor explained.

He didn’t realize his car was broken into and his credit cards were stolen. 

“It wasn’t till that morning I got a fraud alert on my phone saying someone had tried to use my card at one of the convenience stores down the street,” he said. 

Another neighbor said something similar happened to her around the same time. 

“I came out and my back windshield was broken into. Wind up making a police report and everything and they told me somebody used a puncture tool to try to break it without setting the alarm off,” she said. 

Despite the recent break-ins, neighbors were shocked when they heard about the robbery of the delivery truck. Baton Rouge police are currently investigating.