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The robber kicked in the back door of the Park Avenue facility, a half-block from 60th Street, locked the lone employee in a back room at gunpoint, then rifled through drawers and bins, said Shandler, a U.S. Postal Service inspector who doubles as a public information officer. The clerk wasn’t injured, he said.
PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT
The bandit was described as black, about 5’10” to 6 feet tall, with a muscular build and no distinguishing features — other than large, square designer sunglasses, Shandler said. He is in his late 20s to early 30s, the clerk told investigators.
As the original article was being written, U.S. Postal Service inspectors were at the facility to “go through and do all the accounting” to determine exactly what was taken, Shandler said. They did know that some personal and postal property was missing but were unable to put a dollar figure on the total haul yet.
The last postal robbery in the area was a few weeks ago in East Orange. An arrest was made within two weeks, Shandler said, noting that penalties for such crimes can reach 25 years in federal prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
A sign on the door of the West New York facility directed customers to another nearby branch. Several people kept their distance from the facility, about 50 or so yards from the busy 60th Street intersection. Many of those gathered said they hadn’t seen or heard anything.
Anyone with information about the holdup is asked to call U.S. Postal Inspector Malecki at (973) 634-2189, or U.S. Postal Inspector Wang at (973) 725-7654.
The Postal Inspection Service also has a 24-hour hotline: 888.876.5322.
ALL calls will be kept confidential, authorities said.
“One of the areas of our job that we take very seriously is protecting our customers and employees,” Shandler said.
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