JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. — Officers arrested one man and are looking for another in connection to a string of USPS robberies.
Officers with the James City County Police Department responded to multiple armed robberies of USPS delivery drivers on Thursday. The first robbery happened just after 1 p.m. in the 900 block of Coleman Drive. Then at 2 p.m., another robbery happened in the 3700 block of Steeplechase Way.
Police say the same suspect and vehicle were involved in both robberies.
About an hour after the robberies in James City County, a USPS driver was robbed in Hampton.
Detectives with the Hampton Police Division found that the car used in the robberies was a rental, issued on July 19 to 20-year-old Chanz L. Pough of Maryland.
Detectives with the Virginia Beach Police Department alerted JCCPD that a suspect matching the description, along with the rental car, was seen at an apartment complex in Virginia Beach.
Hampton detectives obtained a search warrant, and the Virginia Beach SWAT Team executed the search.
Authorities found 19-year-old Dashawn Evans-McCloud alone in the apartment. He was taken into custody and later arrested for the robberies.
He is charged with the following:
- Robbery
- Attempted Robbery
- Two counts of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of A Felony
- Two counts of Wearing a Mask in Public
Evans-McCloud is currently being held at Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail without bail. Police say USPS is expected to prosecute the case federally.
Pough is still wanted by authorities.
"Every day a criminal sticks a gun in a letter carrier’s face and robs them. It’s a very dangerous situation," said Frank Albergo. He is the national President of the Postal Police Officers Association. They are the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service.
"When there was a spike in crime, the inspection service would deploy us to targeted areas," he said.
In the last three years, Albergo said their power to protect postal workers has been severely cut down by federal legislators, meaning the Postal Police Officers are confined to physical post offices instead of out on the roads with delivery drivers.
Not only were their duties diminished, but their numbers as well. They went from thousands a decade ago, to only around 400 now.
"We’re no longer protecting mail and we’re no longer protecting letter carriers who have become increased targets for criminals," he said.
Between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022, 412 letter carriers were robbed while on duty. Already in the first half of 2023, USPS reported 305 incidents, the Postal Service said in May.
Albergo said these criminals are going after master keys to the blue USPS collection boxes and checks.
"It's bank fraud. Identity theft. I mean, it leads to a slew of different types of fraudulent events," he said. "This is sad to say as a postal police officer, but the postal service has been exposed as an easy target."
In May, the Postal Service said they're ramping up security measures, like securing collection boxes and adding electronic locks.
Albergo said that's not enough. He wants to see his officer’s jurisdictional authority reinstated to get back on the street to cut down on crimes like this.
That could happen with a bipartisan bill reintroduced in April called the Postal Police Reform Act.
It would remove current restrictions confining Postal Police to USPS property and “empowering these officers with the freedom they need to address mail crime," according to Congressman Andrew R. Garbarino (R, NY-02).