BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — U.S. Postal Inspector Blanca Alvarez said two people were arrested Wednesday after they attempted to rob several U.S. Postal Service employees in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
Alvarez said they are now questioning the suspects to determine if they are linked to a string of check-washing incidents in Palm Beach County.
"Typically, they want to steal the mail because they want to take items of value," Alvarez said. "It could be gift cards, it could be cash, it could be something in the mail with somebody's personal information."
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said Teron Bethel and Tira Bethel were arrested by U.S. Marshals following a car chase in Boca Raton.
Alvarez said the suspects attempted to rob a mail carrier of his keys in Boynton Beach at about 11 a.m.
In the following hours, they proceeded to try to steal the mailbox keys from three additional carriers at another Boynton Beach location, Coconut Creek and Boca Raton.
"Never seen this happen before with all these robberies happening within the same area right after each other," Alvarez said.
Once police located the vehicle they believed was involved, the suspects led officers on a chase. Boynton Beach police said the chase eventually ended in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant in Boca Raton.
Alvarez asked anyone with information related to these robberies to call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455.
The U.S. Postal Service is urging people not to leave their mail in the mailbox overnight.