4 charged in connection to armed robbery of Milwaukee mail carriers; letter carrier president pushing to get rid of arrow keys
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Four people are now charged in connection to the armed robbery of two Milwaukee mail carriers.
The accused are 17-year-old Jose Federico-Flores, 18-year-old Jesse Lee Hernandez, 21-year-old Christian Gustavo Lara-Maldonado and 18-year-old True Serwin.
Dave Skowronek, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Pioneer Branch 2, said he's pushing to get rid of arrow keys after the criminal complaint stated the young men were after them.
"We're trying to work with the program now to update - get rid of the keys and have electronic lock boxes, stuff like that, so that we wouldn't have keys in our system," said Skowronek.
Skowronek said he expects the rollout of electronic lock boxes to take a while. He's asking the public, in the meantime, to step up and help.
"That's all we ask, is that we're there to serve you, you know, keep an eye out for your mailman," said Skowronek.
The four accused are facing charges which include armed robbery, fleeing or eluding officers, resisting an officer and bail jumping after they allegedly took part in two armed robberies of Milwaukee postal workers on the morning of Nov. 6.
Prosecutors say each participated as a party to a crime in the robberies, either by directly participating, aiding or conspiring to commit the crimes. A criminal complaint alleges Hernandez provided a gun, Serwin acted as the driver, and Lara-Maldonado and Federico-Flores participated directly in both robberies. Investigators say all four suspects were in the same car, and together they sold a key taken from the second mail carrier.
The first robbery took place around 10:22 a.m. near 12th and Holt. According to the complaint, three of the suspects, armed with handguns, approached a postal worker delivering mail, "racked" their guns, and stated, "give me everything you got." After taking the mail carrier's cellphone, mail bag, package scanner, and the key to the USPS vehicle, the suspects fled northbound.
The complaint then goes on to outline a second robbery around 11:15 near 48th and Euclid. It says while a postal worker was inside his USPS parcel van, three of the accused suspects held him at gunpoint, pointing the gun to the victim's forehead and saying, "give up the arrow key." They allegedly took a set of keys from the postal worker's belt and a set of arrow keys from his carrier bag before again fleeing the area.
After observing a car in the area wanted for an armed robbery earlier that day, officers attempted to stop the driver, later identified as Serwin, who was exiting the alley near 26th and Oklahoma. The complaint says Serwin refused to stop and increased his speed to double the posted speed limited, driving recklessly to elude officers. Police continued to pursue the vehicle for roughly 18 minutes, until Serwin and three other passengers bailed from the vehicle near 30th and Cherry. Hernandez was taken into custody in an alley, and Serwin was arrested after officers found him hiding under a sheet of cardboard.
Investigators say Lara-Maldonado bailed from the fleeing vehicle during the beginning of the pursuit and was taken into custody by other officers at the scene.
When questioned by investigators, the complaint says Serwin admitted to being the driver in both robberies and said the four involved sold the stolen arrow key for $500 and split the money.
Records show Serwin was out on bail at the time of the robberies and is awaiting sentencing for a felony fleeing conviction.