USPS worker nearly run over by thieves after mail stolen from Fullerton post office

FULLERTON, Calif. (KABC) -- Thieves in Orange County were captured on video taking off in a car with stacks of stolen mail after a Postal Service worker tried stopping them.

Footage showed the Postal Service worker in front of a black car in an apparent attempt to block the crooks from escaping. The sedan charged ahead and nearly ran over the employee.

The robbery unfolded Tuesday evening at a post office on Chapman Avenue in Fullerton.

Fullerton police Sgt. Ryan O'Neil said officers responded quickly and located a possible suspect vehicle.

Police pulled the car over at the intersection of Raymond and Orangethorpe avenues.

A U.S. Postal Service crate with "hundreds of pieces of mail" was found in the car, O'Neil said.

Three people were arrested. They face charges of mail theft, assault and assault with a deadly weapon.

Fullerton police are trying to determine if the robbery is connected to other crimes, and if it's random or targeted.

"I just want people to be aware that bad stuff does happen in the world and hopefully people don't put themselves in a dangerous place to get themselves hurt," O'Neil said.

Robberies reported in Orange County have decreased from a peak in 2017, according to the latest statistics from the California Department of Justice.