A Chicago man accused of robbing a U.S. Postal Service letter service and stealing her all-access “arrow key” has been launched on digital monitoring after a decide rejected prosecutors’ request to maintain him detained.
Joshua Walder, 24, is charged with theft, housebreaking, and theft of presidency property for the November 14, 2024, holdup within the 6200 block of South Evans Avenue.
At about 3:59 p.m., prosecutors say, Walder threatened the 46-year-old mail service and ordered her at hand over her arrow key, a grasp key that enables entry to locked postal assortment packing containers and condo mailboxes.
The service surrendered the important thing and instantly known as her supervisor. Moments later, each of them allegedly noticed Walder rummaging via her USPS van. In response to the state’s detention petition, he walked away carrying a crate crammed with packages.
They noticed a neighborhood resident let him into a close-by constructing. The tenant later advised investigators they assumed he was delivering packages and buzzed him inside, solely to study he exited via the again.
Chicago police later recovered the opened packages, their contents gone. Investigators submitted the proof to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service lab, which lifted three fingerprints and palm prints matching Walder, in response to the petition. Investigators additionally confirmed with Amazon that Walder was not an worker, eliminating any harmless clarification for his prints on the packages.
Prosecutors stated Walder admitted to taking the arrow key and packages however claimed he was employed to do it.
The detention petition stated USIPS “tried to current the case” to the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for prosecution however “after that course of [USIPS] decided that they might ship the case to CPD.”
Within the days after the theft, postal inspectors launched surveillance photographs of the robber and provided a $150,000 reward for info.
Regardless of prosecutors’ request to maintain him detained, Decide John Hook denied the petition and ordered Walder launched on an ankle monitor pending trial.
Persistent drawback
Arrow keys give postal staff — and thieves — entry to each blue assortment field and locked mailbox panel on a service’s route. With one key, thieves can filter banks of mailboxes in minutes.
CWBChicago has reported extensively on the issue. Robberies of postal staff by criminals determined to get their arms on arrow keys surged throughout the pandemic and stay a menace to mail carriers within the metropolis. Postal staff have been pistol-whipped, pepper-sprayed, and even shot at by offenders in search of the keys.
As soon as thieves have an arrow key, they move it on to “joggers,” who use it to open banks of mailboxes in residential buildings and steal the contents. The stolen mail is handed on to a different arm of the group specializing in monetary crimes like identification theft and verify washing.
Federal authorities say the underground marketplace for stolen checks and keys is flourishing, with gross sales happening on encrypted messaging apps and darknet boards.
For postal clients, the ripple results will be devastating. Victims report their payments, lease checks, and tax funds stolen proper, generally resulting in late charges or frozen accounts. In different circumstances, stolen identities are used to open credit score strains, leaving residents to untangle fraud that may take years to resolve.
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