3 face charges after crimes reported in St. Lucie, Brevard, Orange, Miami-Dade counties
Three men face federal charges following what investigators said is a series of robberies of letter carries for the U.S. Postal Service in which keys to open mail receptacles were stolen, court records show.
Jamal Trayvon Brown, 23; Bernard Jerome Davis, age unknown; and Jalen Dennis Elliot, 19; each face charges of conspiracy to commit postal/U.S. property robbery; armed postal/U.S. property robbery; illegal theft/possession of a U.S. Postal Service arrow key; and use or carrying a firearm during and in relation to or possesses a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to federal court documents filed Nov. 15.
Stolen in the cases were “arrow keys” that typically allow U.S. Postal Service employees to open mail receptacles in a geographic area to deliver and collect mail.
Investigators report some criminals target the keys as part of efforts to steal mail, searching for checks, cash and money orders.
The incidents began Nov. 19, 2022, with the alleged armed robbery of a letter carrier in Port St. Lucie. Surveillance footage showing the Ford Focus reportedly used in the incident lead investigators to a residence in Fort Pierce where the vehicle was registered.
A woman there said she’d been away, but the vehicle was left with her children, one of whom is Brown. The letter carrier identified Brown after being presented a photo array.
Other robberies in which arrow keys were reported stolen occurred May 12, in Brevard and Orange counties. Investigators determined a Nissan sedan alleged to have been used in at least one of those was registered to an owner in Fort Pierce. The owner reported the Nissan, which was equipped with a tracking device, was rented to Davis.
Investigators found the Nissan at a restaurant on South 25th Street in Fort Pierce. Davis, Brown and a juvenile were in it, as was the arrow key from the Orange County robbery, records show. The three were arrested on state charges of robbery with a firearm, records show.
Records show a postal carrier got away Aug. 1 from what the carrier thought was about to be an armed robbery in St. Lucie County, records show.
Two additional arrow key robberies were reported Oct. 11, and Oct. 21, in Fort Pierce and Miami Beach, respectively.
Investigators on Oct. 22 ultimately reported finding a BMW alleged to have been used in the Miami Beach robbery in St. Lucie County after a chase involving St. Lucie County Sheriff’s investigators, including an agency helicopter. Elliot drove, while Davis was a passenger, records show.
Video from the helicopter showed Davis place something under a portable toilet in a parking lot where he was apprehended. Investigators reported finding the arrow key stolen Oct. 11 in Fort Pierce, as well as another key.
Davis and Elliot told officials they were involved in the Oct. 21, Miami Beach robbery.
Further, Davis said he waited in the Ford Focus while Brown robbed the carrier during the Nov. 19, 2022, incident in Port St. Lucie.
Davis said he and Brown were involved in the cases in Orange and Brevard counties.
Davis denied involvement in the Oct. 11 robbery in Fort Pierce.
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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: 3 charged after armed robberies of postal workers in SLC, elsewhere
