Two men have been indicted by federal grand juries in separate, unrelated cases of armed robbery involving U.S. postal workers in metro Atlanta, officials said.
Tavion Lashawn Williams, 21, and Justin Andrew Sams, 34, were indicted on multiple charges in recent weeks after both were accused of robbing postal workers at gunpoint earlier this year, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan.
Williams is implicated in the first incident, which took place in March in Clayton County, according to Buchanan. Williams is accused of pointing a gun at a USPS letter carrier and demanding their mailbox key. He allegedly ran away after taking the key, but Williams was taken into custody soon after.
At the end of September, Sams is accused of assaulting a letter carrier in southwest Atlanta. During the incident, he allegedly forced the letter carrier to hand over his uniform, keys, cellphone and wallet, including his government-issued credit card meant for buying gas for his mail truck.
Atlanta police responded and were ultimately able to recover all of the mail carrier’s belongings, Buchanan said. Officers also found a semiautomatic handgun at Sams’ home.
Williams was indicted Dec. 6 on counts of theft of a postal service key, armed postal robbery and brandishing a firearm. Sams was indicted less than a week later on charges of armed postal robbery, brandishing a firearm and theft of government property.
“Letter carriers provide a vital service, and no one should feel unsafe when they are carrying out the duties of their job,” Atlanta police Chief Darin Schierbaum said in a statement. “The APD is proud to have played a role in the arrest of two criminals who impacted the well-being of the Postal Service employees who were simply doing their job.”
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