Sometimes, U.S. Postal Service mail makes it into the mailbox. Other times, the ground nearby seems close enough.
The Postal Service is investigating an employee after a Durango-area resident filmed him tossing mail onto La Posta Road (County Road 213) south of Durango from his vehicle.
“All I can tell you is that we are investigating it,” said Michael King, Durango postmaster.
King and the Postal Service offices began reviewing the video Tuesday, he said. Because the investigation is ongoing, King did not release the name of the postal worker or say whether the worker’s actions could be considered a crime. He also did not say whether the employee was still actively working with the Durango post office.
James Boxrud, a Postal Service spokesman, said a notification has been sent to the federal Postal Service Inspection Service, which is standard protocol.
Both Boxrud and King said the employee’s actions did not represent the Postal Service’s protocols and emphasized the service’s commitment to safe and secure delivery.
“It’s not how we would normally conduct business, obviously,” King said. “Our customers are the most important thing, and we want to make sure everybody has accurate delivery and they can trust that the mail will get to their mailbox.”
The video, posted Feb. 18 by Kellie Waddell, a resident south of Durango, sparked a widespread discussion on social media.
The video shows a Postal Service vehicle, parked on the road near mailboxes, with mail on the ground next to it. The Postal Service employee tossed boxes out of the vehicle window and dumped envelopes on the ground.
The employee did eventually deliver the mail to the mailbox, King said, after initial conversations with a customer.
Waddell said the service was unacceptable in a post on Facebook.
“It’s also worth noting that we have contacted the post office several times within the last year regarding missing packages, damaged packages or packages not being delivered when the tracking says they will be,” Waddell said in the Facebook post. “We have also picked up pieces of our mail from out of the street that have been ran (sic) over.”
smullane@durangoherald.com
