According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, in the Mattapan incident, Lewis and Demosthene forcibly robbed a USPS letter carrier of an arrow key. Demosthene approached the postal worker and said, "I'm going to need your master key," before reaching into their mail satchel and grabbing the arrow key. The force used to physically break the brass chain caused the letter carrier to be pulled off the front steps. Lewis and Demosthene then fled the scene in a rental vehicle.
Federal officials say the USPS has seen a rise in criminals using arrow keys to steal U.S. Mail. An arrow key is designed to open designated blue USPS collection boxes in a specific area. USPS owns them, and it's a federal offense for an 'unauthorized person' to possess one.
Since July 2022, there have been at least 23 assaults on USPS letter carriers in Boston and nearby communities. Investigators say that in some of those cases, the assailants were specifically seeking arrow keys. In 15 of those robberies, the suspects were armed with a knife, firearm, or both.
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