Two teenagers have pled guilty to robbing postal service workers across Dallas-Fort Worth.
Louis Dixon and Jerrad Coleman, both 18 years old, have been linked to eight robberies over the course of four months, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
The two individuals were caught in April after committing a robbery at an apartment complex in Fort Worth. Law enforcement picked them up in a traffic stop, and a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) master key was found in their possession.
According to the press release, the duo would rob USPS letter carriers, often at gunpoint, hoping to find an “Arrow Key,” a master key used to gather mail deposited in blue collection boxes. With that key, Dixon and Coleman could steal people’s personal information, checks, credit cards, and bank account information from their mail.
Dixon and Coleman either used the Arrow Keys themselves or sold them to other criminals.
The robberies occurred on January 17 in Fort Worth, January 18 in Fort Worth, January 25 in Dallas, January 29 in Dallas, March 15 in Fort Worth, March 28 in Arlington, April 4 in Frisco, and April 17 in Fort Worth.
USPS has been offering $150,000 for information related to the robbery of a mail carrier.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a surge in such incidents led the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), a union representing postal workers, to hold a rally in Dallas in February to draw attention to their need for protection against robbers in the metroplex.
On June 26, Dixon pled guilty to robbery of property of the United States and conspiracy to rob and unlawfully possess property of the United States. On July 2, Coleman pled guilty to the same charges.
The two were initially booked into the White Settlement jail but have since been transferred to Johnson County. They face up to 15 years in federal prison for their crimes.
“The U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will never cease placing employee safety as one of our top priorities,” said Inspector in Charge Kai Pickens from the Fort Worth Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “Let this serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to harm and traumatize our employees: The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will utilize every resource to find you and bring you to justice.”
Pickens went on to express thanks to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Arlington Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Fort Worth Police Department, and the Frisco Police Department for seeing that Coleman and Dixon answered for their crimes.
Multiple other arrests have been made in connection to the region’s string of postal worker robberies. In April, three men from Fort Worth pled guilty to robbing a letter carrier at gunpoint in October of 2023, as reported by The Dallas Express. The three men took the letter carrier’s postal scanner and keys to an official vehicle.
Robberies of postal carriers have continued into the summer. A robbery on May 6 in Addison led police to offer an additional $150,000 reward for any information.
Dallas has seen rising levels of property crime in certain areas amid a critical staffing shortage in DPD. Only around 3,000 officers are fielded even though a City report previously recommended closer to 4,000.
Due to the shortage, response times have lagged behind DPD goals, especially in the southern parts of the city.
According to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard, Dallas had logged 1,130 robbery incidents this year as of July 2. This crime has been trending upwards, with 179 incidents reported in January compared to 201 in June.
With just $654 million of taxpayer money budgeted for DPD this fiscal year, Dallas City officials voted to spend considerably less on public safety than other high-crime cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.