U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger has called for a federal investigation into reports of missing or mishandled mail in the Myers Park neighborhood. U.S. Postal Service officials in Charlotte reported to the North Carolina Republican that the problem may extend beyond one individual bad actor.
Federal officials reported to Pittenger’s office Friday that they have identified the substitute mail carrier who neighbors said dumped a week’s worth of mail starting around March 24, according to Jamie Bowers, Pittenger’s spokesman. The officials did not confirm reports that the substitute carrier had been arrested.
Pittenger, who neighbors credited with prompting a postal investigation, has asked the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General in Washington, D.C., to conduct a full investigation into the reports. He has also pressed the postal service to alert neighbors who might have missed deliveries that week.
“Neighbors need to know that they might not have received bills or other important documents, so they can take action now and avoid any penalties,” Pittenger said in a statement.
Freda Sauter, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service, said she could not provide specific details as the case was under investigation.
“The Postal Service condemns, in the strongest possible sense, behavior that jeopardizes the security and sanctity of the U.S. Mail or threatens to tarnish the reputation and high level of trust that the vast majority of our employees work so hard to uphold,” Sauter said in a statement.
Neighbors reported missing mail along Queens Road and sections of the Myers Park and Eastover neighborhoods. Their existing mail carrier had gone on vacation and the route was supposed to be handled by a substitute carrier, the neighbors said. In a circulated letter, community leaders reported being told by one postal worker that the substitute carrier had been arrested after being filmed looking through packages and discarding others in area dumpsters.
The federal postal officials told Pittenger’s office that the problem may extend beyond the single substitute carrier, but did not go into details, Bowers said.
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