A neighborhood in Wichita suspended its mail service after two men reportedly assaulted a postal worker.
The mail carrier used pepper spray to stop two large dogs that were chasing him on Sept. 21 around 3 p.m. The 48-year-old man fled to his vehicle before being chased down by his attackers.
“He was then pursued multiple blocks away by the residents of the home, who physically assaulted him, causing significant injuries to his face,’ said Postal Inspector Paul Shade, per KAKE.
"Thankfully, our carrier is going to be OK, but the incident involved two dogs that were aggressively coming toward our carrier leaving no option, but to deploy the pepper spray in order to protect himself,” he added. “The actions of the residents in response to this is unacceptable and will be followed up on by local law-enforcement and federal authorities."
The postal service suspended deliveries in the area until it was determined to be safe. Residents at the 41 impacted addresses in the 800 block of South Millwood will be able to pick up their mail at the local post office.
Shade said one of the “primary missions” of the Postal Inspection Service is to ensure the “protection and safety” of its employees.
“We take very seriously these incidents where our carriers are assaulted by members of the public,” said the inspector.
While speaking with The Wichita Eagle on Monday, Shade was not aware of when the service was suspended but that he was informed of the decision on Sept. 27.
“As to how long [the mail halt is] going to be in place, I don’t have an answer to that,” he said. “That’s a determination that the postal office makes whenever they feel that everything has been resolved to the point where they can resume.”
The Wichita police have not made arrests in connection to the assault but have said the investigation is active.
In 2023, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) received 66,782 reports of property crimes and 13,294 reports of violent crimes. The agency noted that the violent crime rate was 9.8% above the 10-year average.
“Aggravated assaults and batteries have risen substantially since 2015. In 2023, they were 15.2% above the 10‐year average, but saw a 3.0% decrease from the 2022 totals,” stated the KBI in its annual analysis. “Notably, these numbers represent a 36.4% increase from the 2019 pre‐COVID ten‐year average of 8,005 per year.”
Wichita had about 1,103 incidents of violent crime for every 100,000 people. Overall, the city’s crime rate increased by 3.8% during 2023 while the state’s overall crime rate declined by 3.7%.
