NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A postal inspector shot at two mail-theft suspects who led police on a high-speed chase on the Peninsula earlier this week, court documents state.
The driver, Karon Gary, 20, and the passenger, Andre Billups Jr., 21, both of Gloucester County face charges in connection to the incident. Both suspects are being detained until further proceedings.
It started Sunday with a surveillance operation at the Hidenwood post office in Newport News. Postal inspectors, special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Task Force officers and Newport News Police were working together to stop suspected mail thieves in the Tidewater area.
The surveillance had been in response to a string of armed robberies in Hampton and Newport News since September, along with mail theft from blue collection boxes, court documents state. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service deployed several surveillance cameras and license plate readers at various blue collection boxes in the area in an investigation stemming from complaints from financial institutions regarding check fraud, and complaints from postal service customers who reported stolen checks from the blue collection boxes.
Postal inspectors had a hidden, stationary camera set up toward the blue collection boxes at the Hidenwood post office at 359 Hiden Blvd., and, according to court documents, a white Chevy Malibu pulled up and a man, believed to be Billups, got out. He started towards the back of the mailbox to try to open it. That’s when the postal inspector got out of her vehicle, approached the suspect vehicle and issued verbal commands ordering them to stop.
But Billups got back into the car and Gary “aggressively drove toward the Inspector in front of the suspect vehicle,” according to court documents. “The Inspector discharged her service weapon, striking the windshield of the suspect vehicle and the shoulder of the passenger within (Billups), and the vehicle proceeded to exit the area in an accelerated manner.”
The car got past them and kept going toward York County and then to Gloucester County at speeds of more than 100 mph, court documents state. Gloucester deputies deployed spike strips and stopped the car.
At that point, Gary was taken into custody immediately, and the passenger, Billups, fled to a nearby wooded area, court documents state, and he surrendered about 10 to 15 minutes later. Police also found a significantly-modified AK-47 rifle in the backseat of the vehicle, along with two additional pistol magazines, which the prosecution says suggests another firearm was discarded before the two suspects were detained. Several credit and debit cards registered to other people were found in the center console, along with an Amazon package addressed to someone else.
Billups was eventually taken into custody.
Gary, after being read his Miranda rights, told law enforcement officials that Billups had asked him to out with him and that Billups picked him up in Gloucester before driving to Newport News, court documents state.
However, after stopping at a gas station before getting to the Hidenwood Post Office, they switched places and Gary became the driver, with Billups the passenger. Billups gave Gary directions to the post office, and Gary, according to court documents, said he observed Billups fidget with the blue collection box and open it. Gary claimed he did not know what was happening until they were at the post office.
Neither were lawfully issued Arrow keys and did not have the authority to possess or use them, court documents state.
The serial number on the arrow key they had was traced back to a USPS mail carrier who had been robbed back in July. Arrow keys go for about $10,000 on the black market.
The driver, Karon Gary and the passenger, Andre Billups Jr. both face charges of mail theft and attempt, and possession of U.S. Postal Service keys.
Officials said the blue mailboxes in Newport News are reportedly being hit nightly.
Billups and Gary had detention and preliminary hearings in U.S. District Court in Norfolk at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
