KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — Two people are behind bars following an attempted robbery of a local mail carrier.
According to Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan, a local mail carrier was targeted in an attempted armed robbery this week.
"As he was riding along, he got out of his car to adjust a box, one of the packages he had, and that's when this vehicle here pulled alongside," Boan said. "Someone jumped out of the passenger seat and came around with a mask and a handgun, went up to the mail carrier, and demanded a certain key."
According to the sheriff's department's incident report, they were looking for an 'arrow key.' The United States Postal Service says those arrow keys are used to access mailboxes. The incident report goes on to say the mail carrier told the gunman he didn't have it, and the offender left.
"Throughout the investigation, we were able to track it down to this particular red Charger," Boan said. "As of yesterday, one of our deputies stopped the car as they were interviewing the two individuals, and then some of the contents that were inside of the car, we were able to definitely link it to this robbery, or attempted robbery, and they were both taken into custody without incident."
In a statement, the United States Postal Service (USPS) said, in part:
"These types of crimes against postal employees are rare, however, they do occur and are a top priority for us. The inspection service collaborates with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to bring these criminals to justice."
The USPS is offering up to $50,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of those involved.
Sheriff Boan is now asking the public if they recognize the charger that might have been involved in other crimes.
"This was definitely something targeted; this wasn't somebody out looking for any random person out on the road; they were looking for a postal carrier," he said. "There's still the belief that this might have been the only postal carrier that was in contact with this vehicle; that's kinda what we're looking for, if any other postal carriers out there have had any suspicious activity involving this red car or anybody else that may have came up to them recently."
The USPS said that although the suspects didn't steal an arrow key, it's important to watch for mail you may be expecting.