ORLANDO, Fla. – A man was arrested Wednesday in connection to three robberies of Floridian U.S. Postal Service letter carriers in October 2022, according to federal court records.
Darius Capers was arrested by federal authorities, records show. A complaint filed Tuesday a U.S. postal inspector detailed how Capers was tracked down, following such leads as surveillance stills, cellphone pings, a fraudulent transaction and interviews with his family.
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A phone with a number that Capers had provided during two previous run-ins with law enforcement was found to be in the area of a robbery that occurred Oct. 4 in Orange County, another robbery two days later in Orlando and a third on Oct. 25 in Tampa, the complaint states.
Each of the robberies involved a man with some form of facial covering approaching a letter carrier and demanding their keys with intent to access a community mailbox and commit fraud-based and/or financial crimes, according to the complaint. The reporting U.S. postal inspector stated in a summary of the Oct. 6 incident that the assailant was seen to have a firearm in his waistband, telling the letter carrier, “Hurry up, there are kids around. I don’t want to hurt any kids.”
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Cameras placed Capers at some of those scenes, too, officials said.
Investigators used surveillance footage of a vehicle seen driving away from the Oct. 4 and Oct. 6 robberies to make out a license plate number and contact its owner, Capers’ father, who said Darius Capers was the vehicle’s primary driver.
The reporting U.S. Postal inspector recommended Capers face a charge of robbery of a mail carrier with receipt of possession or stolen USPS property, according to the complaint.
In court, records show Capers was appointed a federal public defender and was released from custody Thursday, though the conditions of his release remain unclear at the time of this writing.
Further details about Capers, such as his exact age or hometown, were also not immediately made available.
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