DALLAS — Still feeling the excitement of a new job, Elias Levario enjoys being a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service. But right now, he's taking some time away from work after he was robbed at gunpoint on the job.
On January 25 around noon, Elias said he was working his route on Bickers Street in Dallas when a man approached him, pointing a gun at his chest.
"He walked up to me as if he had a question," said Elias. He said people often ask him questions while he is working, so he didn't think much of it when the suspect approached.
Elias said he had letters and flats in his arms. As he was filling the mailboxes at an apartment complex, he remembers dropping everything and following the suspect's orders.
"My life could have been taken from me within a second, you know if I said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing," he said. Elias said he is going to a counselor to deal with the trauma.
According to the National Association of Letter Carriers, 2,000 letter carriers have been victims of armed robberies since 2020. Before that, this was rarely an issue.
In Dallas, the NALC said eight letter carriers have been robbed at gunpoint, including Elias. One post office was burglarized too.
Elias and the NALC are asking neighbors to stay vigilant and look out for their letter carriers.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating this case, along with several other armed robbery cases on letter carriers. Robbing a mail carrier is a federal felony that carries a sentence of up to 25 years.
Anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect can be eligible for a financial reward by (877) 876-2455.