Press Release
District Man Indicted on Federal Charges For Armed Robbery and Assault of Letter Carrier
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia
Victim Was Attacked While Finishing his Route in Edgewood Neighborhood
WASHINGTON – Jerome A. Proctor, Jr., 23, of Washington, D.C., was indicted today on federal charges alleging that he robbed and assaulted a United States Postal Service letter carrier in Northeast Washington last fall.
The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Inspector in Charge Robert B. Wemyss of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Washington Division, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
The indictment charges Proctor with one count of robbery of United States mail, one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees, and two firearms offenses. Proctor, who is in custody in Maryland for an unrelated matter, will be arraigned at a date to be scheduled by the Court.
The indictment charges Proctor with taking part in an attack at about 6 p.m. on Nov. 26, 2016, in the 2300 block of Second Street NE. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement learned that a letter carrier was completing his route when he was approached by an individual later identified as Proctor and an accomplice. Proctor allegedly pistol-whipped the letter carrier and ordered his accomplice to rummage through the letter carrier’s pockets.
According to the government’s evidence, Proctor and his accomplice took the letter carrier’s mail satchel and personal property, as well as his pants and sneaker, before the letter carrier was able to get up off the ground to try to flag down a car for assistance. As the letter carrier approached the car for help, he saw a shot fired in the air to scare away the car. The driver, frightened by the gunshot, sped off, but the letter carrier was able to run after the car and ultimately flagged down officers of the Metropolitan Police Department just blocks away.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Metropolitan Police Department are investigating the case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Crane.
Updated May 10, 2017
Component