No mail delivery for dozens of Wichita residents after postal worker assaulted by two men
Several dozen residents in a west Wichita neighborhood saw their mail delivery halted after a United States Postal Service worker was assaulted by two people earlier this month, a USPS official said.
The incident occurred on Sept. 21 in the 800 block of S. Millwood Street. The neighborhood lies south of West Kellogg and the Delano neighborhood.
USPS Postal Inspector and Public Information Officer Paul Shade said 41 addresses were affected by the halt of mail delivery. It is unclear exactly when mail delivery stopped. Shade said he was notified of it on Sept. 27.
Residents who were affected should have received a card notifying them to pick up their mail at the nearest postal office.
It is unclear when mail delivery will resume for these residents.
“As to how long that’s going to be in place [mail halt], I don’t have an answer to that,” Shade said in a phone call on Monday. “That’s a determination that the postal office makes whenever they feel that everything has been resolved to the point where they can resume.”
Attack on Wichita postal worker
Wichita police responded at 2:50 p.m. on Sept. 21 to a battery call. A 48-year-old Wichita postal worker had facial injuries, WPD police spokesperson Juan Rebolledo said Monday.
The worker said he did not need EMS services. “Thankfully, our carrier is going to be OK,” Shade said.
The postal carrier had been delivering mail in the area when two large dogs chased him. He used pepper spray in self defense and ran back to his vehicle, both Shade and Rebolledo said.
He was followed for multiple blocks by two men who physically assaulted him, Shade added.
Police are looking for those men. No arrests have been made. The USPS asks all customers to keep their dogs within confined spaces to protect mail carriers.
“One of the primary missions of the Postal Inspection Service is the protection and security of the postal employees, and we take very seriously these incidents where our carriers are assaulted by members of the public,” Shade said.
Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to call WPD detectives at 316-268-4407 or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.
“The actions of the residents in response to this is unacceptable and will be followed up on by local law-enforcement and federal authorities,” Shade said.