Police: Postal worker intentionally hit man with truck
Oct 3, 2014, 4:27 PM | Updated: 5:09 pm
A 55-year-old postal worker is accused of trying to run down another person in Bellevue while "laughing hysterically." (AP file)
(AP file)
Bellevue police have arrested a U.S. postal worker accused of intentionally hitting a man with her mail truck while “laughing hysterically.”
The incident happened Friday around 11:15 a.m. in front of Phantom Lake Elementary School on 160th Avenue Southeast.
Police say the victim saw the postal worker yelling obscenities at another person. The victim, who was picking his daughter up from kindergarten, became worried about the postal worker’s behavior and decided to take a picture of the truck so he could file a complaint.
When the victim walked in front of the truck to take a photo, police say the on-duty postal worker put her vehicle into drive and hit him.
“This was a very slow speed, just a couple miles per hour incident, but the victim was obviously very taken aback,” said Officer Seth Tyler with the Bellevue Police Department.
Officer Tyler said the woman struck the man two more times.
“The victim stated that the postal worker was laughing as if she just heard a joke as she was driving toward the victim,” Officer Tyler said. “So that’s very concerning.”
The victim was uninjured.
The postal worker, a Newcastle resident, was arrested and brought to the Bellevue Police Department to be interviewed by officers and a U.S. postal inspector.
A spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service told MyNorthwest.com that the worker could face a wide range of punishments, including federal prosecution and termination, if convicted.
KIRO Radio’s Brandi Kruse contributed to this report.
