‘He’d been there forever’: USPS carrier killed in Tampa hit-and-run identified
The U.S. Postal Service carrier killed in a hit-and-run crash in Sulphur Springs on Monday was a 30-plus-year veteran of the agency who could have retired but kept working because he loved his job so much, according to those who knew him.
People who worked with Paul Falica, 69, described him as a “happy-go-lucky” guy who had earned a lifetime achievement award earlier this year for a career without preventable vehicle accidents.
Falica died at the scene of the crash that happened about 3 p.m. at the intersection of North River Cove Street and North Mulberry Street, according to police.
Police said a driver struck Falica’s postal truck with a dark-colored Mercedes sedan and then left the scene. Police found the damaged Mercedes on the 8400 block of North 16th Street, about a mile away from the crash scene.
Detectives were working Tuesday to identify and arrest the driver.
Brian Obst, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers for the Tampa Bay area branch, said Falica had been with the Postal Service for at least three decades. Falica was eligible for retirement but had no plans to leave anytime soon, Obst said.
”He enjoyed doing his job and he’d been there forever,” he said. “The people on his route knew him very well, so we were just shocked at this situation.”
Obst said hit-and-run crashes aren’t any more common for Postal Service workers than for anyone else. If anything, he said their heightened visibility usually keeps mail carriers safe.
”We stand out kind of like a sore thumb in the community,” Obst said. “I mean, everybody recognizes us as a postal vehicle.”
He said he always urges carriers at the union to “watch out for the other guy” while making their rounds.
“The Postal Service is deeply saddened by the loss of our postal family member. Our condolences and thoughts go out to his family, friends, and co-workers,” a spokesperson for the agency wrote in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
In February, Falica was inducted into the National Safety Council’s “Million Mile Club,” which celebrates mail carriers who achieve either 1 million miles or 30 years of driving without being involved in a preventable motor vehicle accident.
“Our thoughts are with (the) Falica family during this tragic time and our detectives will work tirelessly to find justice for Mr. Falica and his loved ones,” Tampa police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a news release Tuesday.
Police asked anyone with information about the crash to call the department at 813-231-6130 or submit tips through Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay by calling 800-873-TIPS or with the TIP411 mobile app.
