Second Suspect Still at Large
Boston – One Dorchester man was arrested this morning and another remains a fugitive in connection with the attempted robbery, assault and kidnapping of a U.S. Postal letter carrier that took place just before Christmas. The federal criminal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday and was unsealed today.
Maurice Williams Miner-Gittens, 23, and 21, were charged with conspiracy to rob, attempted robbery and kidnapping of a federal employee.
The government is seeking the public’s assistance in locating Keyon Taylor. Anyone with information regarding Taylor’s whereabouts should contact the U.S. Postal Inspectors at 877-876-2455 (option 2). Taylor may be armed and should be considered dangerous; no one should attempt to apprehend him.
Gittens and Taylor were charged in connection with the Dec. 20, 2013 attempted robbery, shooting and kidnapping of a U.S. Postal letter carrier in Dorchester. While the letter carrier was delivering holiday packages, Taylor allegedly jumped into the postal truck and put a pistol to the letter carrier’s head. A scuffle ensued and the letter carrier was shot in the wrist and was subsequently beaten with the pistol and kicked, told to take off his postal uniform and lie face down.
It is alleged that Taylor took the letter carrier’s keys and started to drive the postal truck away. According to the affidavit, the letter carrier, who was bleeding extensively and who feared for his life, escaped by jumping out of the back door of the truck and running away. Taylor drove the truck a short distance further before abandoning it and fleeing on foot, leaving a trail of boot prints in the snow and his blood on a chain link fence from a cut or puncture wound on his hand. The trail of boot prints led through several back yards to a trash or recycling bin, which also had his blood on the handle.
The letter carrier’s uniform, cell phone and personal keys were found in the bin.
Gittens, meanwhile, was the renter and driver of a U-Haul van that was used during the attempted robbery, which had the letter carrier’s blood on the outside.
The charges were made after an extensive investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Boston Police Department. The Boston Police Department’s crime laboratory also provided exceptional assistance in analyzing forensic evidence within a very short time period.
The defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison on the kidnapping charges; five years on the conspiracy charges; and 25 years on the robbery of federal property.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Boston Police Commissioner William Evans made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Thomas E. Kanwit of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
The details contained in the complaint are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Interesting. I’m glad one of the alleged assailants was caught, but how much did the Inspection Service have to do with it? If they’re no better at apprehending violent criminals than they are identifying inside scams and bribe schemes, then the legitimate police probably caught this guy and the I.P. stood there at the podium to try to take some of the credit.
A larger question remains: while prosecuting this guy and the other they’ll eventually catch is good, what proactive steps has the Service implemented to try to stop this totally preventable attack? What good now will that do the poor carrier who died in Maryland? The NALC says they’re working with the Service trying to address the issue, and while I’m an NALC member and officer myself, I sometimes think the first mistake has already been committed, by working with the Service.
The Service does nothing except run scams for its upper level cronies. Their dialogue with unions and press are worthless. We meet, we sign contracts and manuals and MOU’s, and management promptly ignores what they’ve committed themselves to. The union must take a more offensive approach, including making a big issue of the USPS management’s continued abuses of their labor agreements. But what do you get? Step 4 arbitrations that drag out for years and then are still ignored by offices where NALC branches are either asleep at the wheel, in bed with local supervision, or scared to death of management to the point they won’t file grievances.
I know of many offices where the NALC exists only to collect dues. There are lots of problems out there in the field, and lots of members suffer if one person who might be a steward or president is lazy, corrupt or both. It’s the seedy side of organized labor we don’t like to discuss, but I say it’s way past due.
The union could and should have been far more aggressive concerning the violent crimes against its carriers this winter, instead even refusing to blame the USPS for any of the incidents. I took offense at that comment, and I’m sure lots of others did, too. Tough talk does nothing. We need tough action.