Surveillance video from southern California shows a mail carrier fighting back against an apparently unprovoked attack, ABC7 reported Friday.
The attack against Bruce Jennings, a veteran United States Postal Service employee with over 20 years of experience, took place on Feb. 21, according to ABC7.
The suspected attacker, who is not named in the report, is a man with a long criminal record that includes burglary and assault with a deadly weapon and stretches back decades, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Video Shows Good Samaritan Land Wicked Cross Body Block On Criminal Fleeing Police)
A suspected squatter with a lengthy criminal record is accused in an unprovoked attack on a Gardena mail carrier. Residents say the suspect has been a neighborhood nuisance for weeks, so why wasn’t he behind bars? Troubling video – Tonight at 11 from ABC7 https://t.co/ASfAA5V1Qb pic.twitter.com/CN8K2pO90x
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) March 8, 2024
The man was angry with Jennings for failing to deliver a package he expected to receive at the vacant home where he was allegedly squatting, according to ABC7.
Video shows the suspect taunting and feinting at Jennings, then punching him in the back of his head as he walks away.
“I’m dropping the mail, and at that point it was defense mode for me,” Jennings told ABC7.
The video then shows the two men squaring up in the middle of the street before the suspect lands a crushing blow that knocks Jennings to the ground. Jennings gets back up and grapples with the suspect, who throws the mailman to the ground, after which the clip ends.
Jennings said the suspect, who he and neighbors had seen around the area before, told him “he could do me foul,” ABC7 reported.
Police arrested the suspect last week for breaking and entering, and he is currently in custody, according to the outlet.
“[Jennings is] the first one that greets you when you move here,” neighbor Derek Martin said. “We all came together because Bruce is someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty with his job. He’s just a guy you hate to see this happen to.”
Jennings said he is alright and appreciates the neighbors’ support, but that he wants the Postal Inspection Service to exact justice, ABC7 reported.
Assaulting a mail carrier is a federal felony, and the Postal Inspection Service has presented the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to the outlet.