The United States Postal Service has suspended mail service in a California beach town plagued by homeless encampments after the agenc...
The United States Postal Service has suspended mail service in a California beach town plagued by homeless encampments after the agency claimed its mail carriers have been attacked in recent months.
The first incident happened in Santa Monica on January 19 when a mail carrier was attacked by a broomstick-wielding person near the intersection of 14th Street and Arizona Avenue, three blocks from the beach
The carrier reportedly was not injured in the attack, CBS News reported.
Several months later, residents in the neighborhood received notices from USPS that informed them of the suspension of delivery service to all addresses located along the 1300 block of 14th Street.
The notice explained that 'multiple carriers have been subjected to assaults and threats of assault from an individual who has not been located or apprehended.'
The 1300 block of 14th street in Santa Monica, pictured, the scene of at least three assaults on mail carriers in recent months, USPS said
A United States Postal Service (USPS) worker unloads packages from his truck. Mail service has been suspended in a Santa Monica neighborhood due to recent assaults on letter carriers
USPS spokeswoman Natashi Garvins confirmed there there have been three separate incidents in the area involving three separate letter carriers over the last several months, according to Fox News Digital.
'This is an unusual, but necessary step to protect our employees,' Garvins said before declining to go into further detail.
However, only one assault has been officially reported to authorities, CBS News reported.
Meanwhile, USPS has still been delivering packages in the neighborhood despite the notice, yet paper mail delivery has stopped, with residents having to pick up their mail in person at their local post office on 7th Street.
The intersection of 14th Street and Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica, where a mail carrier delivering mail was attacked by a resident with a broomstick
As of Monday, it remains unclear as to when the suspension will end.
A Santa Monica Police Department spokeswoman told the outlet that the department first became aware of the USPS suspension of service on Saturday.
The US Postal Inspection Service said it 'is aware of the recent reports of suspicious activity towards Postal Carriers in Santa Monica, California,' according to a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
'Postal Inspectors are currently investigating the incidents and are unable to comment further at this time.'
'Postal Inspectors encourage anyone who observes suspicious activity involving US Mail to report it to local police and to Postal Inspectors at 1-877-876-2455.'
The news comes after dozens of homeless people had to be removed from an encampment in nearby Downtown Los Angeles - after residents and business owners complained the area was blighted by crime ranging from sexual assault to open drug use, vandalism, fires and prostitution.
During the week of April 2, total violent crimes in Greater Los Angeles increased seven percent, with robberies up over 17 percent and assaults up over four percent.
Crime where the suspect was listed as homeless has risen by 31 percent in Venice over the past year, according to police statistics, analyzed by NBC News . Homeless victims of crime rose by 83 percent in the same period
'We see fights almost daily. There is drug use out in the open, there is semi nudity as they urinate and defecate under a tree. We've had our bikes stolen, there's fires, there's needles everywhere, and the kids at the school are exposed to it all,' one resident said
The homeless population has mushroomed in Venice. A count in 2014 showed only 175 people living rough. Five years later that figure stood at more than 1,200. But it is over the last few months that things have spiraled out of control
The cluster of around 30 remaining people were relocated from the Little Tokyo neighborhood, a few blocks from City Hall, in the latest of a series of clean-ups to move the homeless into temporary housing and confront the staggering level of homelessness in the City of Angels, where 94 percent of residents say the issue is a serious problem.
Sanitation staff worked into the night to clear debris left on the streets after volunteers helped move people and some of their belongings.
It is the second sweep of the Toriumi Plaza in recent weeks. Last month, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority relocated 55 people from the encampment into shelters, leaving just 25 to 30 people to house, FOX11.com reported City Councilman Kevin de León as saying.
Previous clean-ups have targeted the Echo Park and MacArthur Park areas.
In a recent poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times, the city's homelessness crisis was named the biggest concern among residents, ahead of housing affordability, or traffic, air quality and climate change.
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