A mail carrier has been placed on unpaid leave after federal agents found mail in a trash can that was supposed to be delivered to homes and businesses in Bloomfield.
The items the carrier allegedly tossed away included “several different classes of mail, including one ballot request and about two dozen political advertisements,” according to Special Agent Scott Balfour of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.
“The mail was intended for delivery in the Bloomfield area of Pittsburgh, and was already returned to the USPS and delivered to customers,” Balfour said in a statement.
Postal inspectors were contacted after the mail was discovered in a trash can at Persad Center along Butler Street in Lawrenceville, according to Tribune-Review news partners WPXI-TV.
The case will be turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecution once the postal service completes its investigation, Balfour said.
Postal officials have not released the name of the carrier who is being investigated.
Carlos Torres, the interim executive director of the Persad Center, said the discarded mail was found by the facility’s manager.
“He looked into the trash can right outside the main entrance of the building and noticed that there was mail that had not been delivered,” Torres told the TV station. “None of the mail belonged to us. We left it alone because we didn’t want to damage any evidence so to speak.”
Torres said the security cameras at his facility show the postal worker, over the course of several days, delivering mail to Persad and then going to his vehicle to retrieve items that were discarded in the trash can.
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