NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — An investigation into mail thefts ended with two suspects being shot at by law enforcement and leading police on a high-speed chase in Hampton Roads.
Court documents show the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) was investigating mail thefts at blue collection boxes at the Hidenwood Post Office in Newport News early Monday morning. Around 1 a.m., a car with two men inside reportedly pulled up to a blue mail collection box. The passenger got out and was seen trying to access the mail from the box.
A USPIS inspector approached the suspects and ordered them to stop. The passenger reportedly got back in the car and the vehicle then "aggressively drove" at her. The court documents say the inspector then shot at the car, hitting the windshield and striking the passenger — later identified as Andre Billups Jr. — in the shoulder.
The driver kept going, leading law enforcement on a chase all the way into Gloucester County with speeds reportedly approaching 100 miles per hour. Gloucester County sheriff's deputies deployed stop sticks that ultimately disabled the vehicle and brought the pursuit to an end.
Billups, along with Karon Gary, are now charged with mail theft and possessing USPS keys.
In a statement to 13News Now, a spokesperson for the USPS Office of Inspector General said: "The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) confirmed a postal inspector with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service was involved in a shooting during a planned surveillance operation. In accordance with OIG policy, the shooting incident is under review by the OIG’s Special Inquiries Division. Since this is an ongoing investigation, no further details are being released at this time."
Mail thefts and postal carrier robberies have been a growing trend across the country, with more than 2,000 assaults on postal workers reported since 2020. The USPS has been cracking down on these thefts and robberies, with hundreds of arrests made since May.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy previously said in a statement that it’s important to protect the “sanctity of the nation’s mail” but that his top priority is the safety of those delivering it.
To reduce robberies, the Postal Service is in the process of replacing tens of thousands of postal carriers’ universal keys that are sought by criminals seeking to steal mail to commit check fraud, officials said. As of late October, 6,500 of the keys have been replaced with electronic locks in select cities, and another 42,500 are set to be deployed, officials said.
To prevent mail theft, the Postal Service also has deployed more than 10,000 high-security blue boxes in high-risk locations to prevent people from breaking into them.
Mail theft can be punished by up to five years in prison, while possession or disposal of postal property carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Assaulting a mail carrier can also lead to a 10-year sentence for a first-time offense and repeat offenders can get 25 years for an assault.
Frank Albergo is The President of the Postal Police Officers Association. It is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. He said mail carriers are targeted for their USPS arrow keys or the master key. This year, the US Postal Service launched The Project Safe Delivery Campaign to crack down on postal street crime, but Albergo believes it’s not enough.
“The postal service has a uniformed police force, and it's been grounded. We no longer patrol blue collection boxes. We no longer protect letter carriers; basically, it’s inviting crime, so it’s the perfect storm,” Albergo said.
Recently, lawmakers have introduced the bipartisan Postal Police Reform Act in the senate. It provides the postal service with the flexibility to use postal police as the service needs without imposing additional costs on the postal service.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine is a co-sponsor of the bill.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.