‘He was just a great man’: Tampa mailman killed in hit-and-run remembered
TAMPA, Fla (WFLA) — A United States Postal Office mail carrier was killed in a hit-and-run crash Monday afternoon, authorities said.
The crash happened at the intersection of North River Cove and Mulberry Street in Sulphur Springs. Tampa police identified him as 69-year-old Paul Falica.
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People who knew Falica say he had just celebrated 40 years as a mail carrier. It’s a job he was proud of.
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“I would say, ‘Are you still working?’ and he would say, ‘I’m starting my second 30-year career,’ meaning he was going to stick around as long as he could,” said Tony Diaz, a retired mail carrier.
Diaz told 8 On Your Side he got to know Falica while serving as president of a local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
“He was just a great man, it was fun back in forth with him in the office as much as he would take it, he would dish it out,” Diaz shared.
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According to Diaz, the victim’s coworkers called him “Paulie.”
“He was Paulie from New York, he’ll always be remembered as Paulie from New York.”
News of Falica’s death has sent shockwaves to mail careers in Tampa and beyond.
“We go out to do our job, we expect to be safe every day on our job, we don’t expect this sort of thing to happen,” said Brian Obst, National Association of Mail Carriers Branch 599 President.
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