Package thieves hold 3 UPS drivers at gunpoint in 2 days, California cops say
Three UPS truck drivers were robbed at gunpoint while making deliveries in Northern California over the course of just two days this week, according to authorities in San Jose.
Two robbers — both men in black ski masks, one armed with a handgun — have been going up to UPS trucks in San Jose and demanding drivers open the door, then getting into their trucks, stealing packages and driving away in a newer black Honda sedan, according to the San Jose Police Department.
Police described the robbers as adult men, roughly 6 feet tall and wearing dark clothes.
The first robbery was Tuesday around 6:40 p.m. near the corner of Beech Grove Court and Banana Grove Lane in the Silicon Valley city, according to police.
The next two armed heists were within an hour of each other — one around 8 p.m. on Wednesday near Sand Point Drive an Quimby Road, and another at roughly 8:45 p.m. near War Admiral Avenue and Snow Drive in San Jose, police said.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Eddy Reyes of the San Jose Police Department’s Robbery Unit at 408-277-4166,” Sgt. Enrique Garcia told McClatchy news group by email. “Persons wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867.”
San Jose police all three UPS drivers were left uninjured in the robberies.
UPS said the package delivery company is working with authorities on the investigation, the Los Angeles Times reported, quoting a spokesperson who said “UPS takes a multi-layered approach to security, but we do not disclose those methods to maintain their effectiveness.”
The last robbery was captured on surveillance camera footage Wednesday night, CBS San Francisco reports.
According to the TV station, the video “shows the driver walking up to a porch to make his delivery. Seconds later he is seen walking back to his truck. But before he can get there, he is robbed at gunpoint, forced to get down on his knees with his hands up. A shadowy figure then apparently commands the driver to lie face down on the street. The whole scene illuminated only by the driver’s truck headlights.”
The rash of armed delivery truck robberies in the San Francisco Bay Area comes as holiday shoppers wait for packages ordered online in Cyber Monday sales. The same week a UPS driver in Miami was shot and killed when two armed robberies hijacked his truck, the Miami Herald reported.
That Florida shootout on Thursday left four dead, including two robbers who were ex-convicts, according to the Herald.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 12:32 PM with the headline "Package thieves hold 3 UPS drivers at gunpoint in 2 days, California cops say."
