A 63-year-old U.S. Postal Service employee died after getting punched in the face while on the job in California, law enforcement officials said.
Fernando Santoya was delivering mail in Fresno on Dec. 18, when he got into an altercation with a group of men who were renovating a house on South Polk Avenue.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said one of the workers had parked his vehicle in front of the mailbox but moved it when Santoya arrived.
However, the men and the mailman got into a fight and Santoya allegedly tried to punch one of the men. The man punched back, striking Santoya in the face, and the mail carrier collapsed and stopped breathing.
“In an effort to defend himself, the man punched back, striking Santoya once in his face,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“Sontaya stumbled and then collapsed. The workers noticed he was no longer breathing, so one of them began CPR on Santoya while another worker placed a 911 call. Deputies and EMS personnel arrived and arranged for Santoya to be transported to the hospital.”
Detectives said all witnessed cooperated with law enforcement and that no arrests have been made as of yet; the official cause of death was pending the results of toxicology tests.
Anyone with additional information was asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111, Detective Gary Haslam at (559) 600-8209, Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867.
Pieces of mail wait to be sorted at the Merrifield Postal Center on Dec. 20, 2004. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)Trump Panel Proposes Path for Postal Service
The U.S. Postal Service should charge businesses more to mail packages, monetize its exclusive access to mailboxes, and explore ways to partner with private businesses, according to a report published in early December from a government panel appointed by President Donald Trump.
The USPS has lost $69 billion since 2007, due to declining mail volumes and competition from the private sector. The USPS lost almost $4 billion in fiscal 2018, which ended Sept. 30, even as package deliveries rose. Trump appointed the panel to look for ways to rein in the losses.
“The goal of these recommendations is to identify a path for the USPS to operate under a sustainable business model, providing necessary mail services to citizens and businesses, while competing fairly in commercial markets,” Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury, said in a statement accompanying the report.
The report recommends handing the postal service the ability to redefine the meaning of the so-called “universal service obligation,” which is a mission statement laying out the scope of the organization’s services. The report recommends separating commercial services as a non-essential category, which wouldn’t be subject to price caps, and mandated delivery standards that apply to essential services such as person-to-person mail.
Such changes may result in higher prices on package deliveries for online retailers, including e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. Trump has criticized Amazon for using USPS as its “delivery boy” and contributing to the postal service’s losses.
“None of our findings or recommendations relate to any one company,” a senior administration official said Dec. 4.
The report recommends that the USPS explore ways to make money on its monopoly access to mailboxes. The postal service should also explore partnerships with private companies, including cohabiting with retail partners.
Epoch Times writer Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
From NTD News
