Police arrested a man who allegedly robbed a postal worker for his master key but was stopped in his tracks.
Yunior Blanco, 19, will be facing charges in federal court, a place he is familiar with. He was on probation for stealing mail when he ran into trouble again on Wednesday.
U.S. Postal Inspection Police cuffed Blanco and loaded him into the back of an unmarked car. He's accused of roughing up a postal worker and stealing his master key.
"The assailant specifically wanted the key, reached for it and grabbed it and went running," said Postal Inspector Blasdesmir Rojo.
It happened along Northwest 22nd Avenue and 9th Street in Little Havana about 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
Blanco allegedly took off, but got stopped along the way.
Construction workers chased him down and detained him. An off-duty City of Miami police officer who was driving by, then pulled over and helped apprehend the subject.
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Records show Blanco was convicted last summer of stealing mail near East 6th Street in Hialeah. He was caught with a bag of people's mail, including a debit card.
In Wednesday's robbery, the postal worker was not hurt and the mail keys were found.
U.S. Postal Inspectors said stealing mail often leads to identity theft. There have been at least seven other cases of postal workers being robbed in Florida over the last year, two this past March in Tamarac.
