Monday I had a work related incident. I was almost hit by car, the driver than wanted to fight me, and then he tried to back over me.

I called 911, and the LEO came to take my report. He said he could site the driver a summons for Disorderly Conduct. The irony is an off duty police officer witnessed the whole thing, and was subpoenaed within 45 minutes to appear at my court day, whenever that is.

Is it even worth my time to pursue this? I'd have to take a day off work, and use vacation time to get off work. I got the impression the driver (young male) is well known with the local police department, and not in a good way.

UPDATE: There were a few more incidents with the driver following this. First I had seen him on numerous occasions driving, and his cell phone was ALWAYS in his hand in plain view. He never even noticed me walking down the street. The week of Thanksgiving I was out of town with my family. The driver showed up to my route, and asked the carrier subbing if he was the one he had an incident with. The carrier said no, and the driver kind of joked about it, but did claim he was at fault for speeding. However, this same week, the driver filed a formal complaint with my employer stating I "punched his car, ran after him, and sprayed him with dog spray". Also the off duty police officer who was subpoenaed mentioned that when the driver had exited his vehicle while sprinting at me, he had dropped something out of his left hand. Hmmm...

So I go to court. It is about a 1/2 mile from the driver's house. Court starts at 9am, I get there at 8:30. The magistrate is on my route, and I know it gets busy. About 8:55, the driver's mom shows up, tells one of the court clerks her son is really sick, and wants to reschedule his court date. The mom was told if he was not there when they called his name, he would be charged. About 9:30 they call his name. Nope, he's not there. A few minutes later, the officer who cited him comes out, and I asked what happened. He was charged with Disorderly Conduct, and $450 fine.

Black92, you asked about why I had to take the day off. After the incident, I found out the driver is the son of customers on my route. I have never had a problem with them, and they have always been very polite to me. I was thinking about dropping the charges until the driver filed a complaint with my employer. At this point, it was basically a civil matter, even though Postal Inspectors were contacted, but it was being handled by the local police. Had I wanted to make it work related, he could have been charged with Assaulting a Postal Employee, which carries a fine of up to $250,000 and 10yrs in prison. This was a ~22y/o kid being a dumbass, and I thought that was overkill. He has been in trouble before, and hopefully this will knock some sense into him, but not ruin his life. I have not seen him since November, and his dad still waves at me when he drives past.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ASKSmith,

So...what kinda work ya doing these days?

Same as I always have.

We are issued dog spray at work. This is the first time in 16 years I almost used it on a human subject.

After he almost hit me with his car, I was behind my truck. I heard a door slam, and looked around the side of my truck. The driver had exited his vehicle, and was in a full sprint running at me about 25 feet away. I took a few steps back, and grabbed my dog spray. He came to his senses, and walked back to his car.

I followed him to get his license plate number, and that's when he attempted to back over me.

Just not sure if it's even worth it for a trivial charge.

How would you feel when he beats up a USPS coworker sometime?

I think it is worth it because it adds to his rap sheet and could help hammer him and get him off the streets for a long time after he hurts someone. Another nail in the coffin so to speak, otherwise it’s like it never happened.

Or comes up behind you, or diguises himself just enough that you can't tell a judge you actually saw his face. Follow through on this. I don't know that your boss would consider it to be work related, but I can't see how your boss would beef about you being able to be sure that you can do your job safely.

From the sound of it, the local PD might see your following through on this as doing them a favor.

One of our carrier used his dog spray on a dude a few years back. The dude is still in jail.
At least LEO came out, I had a guy threaten to kill me with a tire iron, dispatch said "We don't respond to threats"....threatening a fed employ is a felony....
I also had a lady almost run me over a few weeks ago, she kept doing it, over and over again. When I told management about it, they told me I needed to get back out on the street.

Just remember if you die on the street, it's your fucking fault, and you're an asshole because others will have to break up your route when your dead. You son of a bitch.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SevenPlusOne,

Personally I would talk to the D.A. and ask why he is not being charged with assault and attempted murder. Those seem to be the appropriate charges based on the facts you laid out. If he's known in a bad way, you'd think they would want to get his attention.

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
Monday I had a work related incident. I was almost hit by car, the driver than wanted to fight me, and then he tried to back over me.

I called 911, and the LEO came to take my report. He said he could site the driver a summons for Disorderly Conduct. The irony is an off duty police officer witnessed the whole thing, and was subpoenaed within 45 minutes to appear at my court day, whenever that is.

Is it even worth my time to pursue this? I'd have to take a day off work, and use vacation time to get off work. I got the impression the driver (young male) is well known with the local police department, and not in a good way.

IMO, pursue this to full outcome before he kills someone.

Seven, now my coworkers will bitch I "got the day off to go to court".

Ironically, this kid lives on my route, and the local magistrate is also part of my route. I'll be delivering his summons to court, I might even have to get him to sign for it.

I did call my supervisor as soon as I called 911. We are told to call 911 first, and then report it to the office. The Postal Inspectors have been notified, but I have not heard from them. Since this was all verbal and no injuries, I'm not sure if they will even bother. Had I sprayed him, or we went physical, it would be a different story. I'd probably be on the news, "local mailman sprays 22y/o kid", and they'd have his 6th grade picture in his finest Sunday attire.

The "21 foot rule" is no joke. I'm guessing he was 25ft away, and I wasn't sure if he had a weapon. He stopped well within spraying distance, maybe 8 feet. The LEO who took my report came out twice, the second time was to make sure I had a positive ID, and tell me he had already contacted the off duty officer to appear in court.

Thanks for the responses. I will proceed with the court hearing, and Seven you get a 2hr pivot on my route.

Please help me understand why you would have to take a day off to attend a court appearance directly related to work.

Do it. You always hear those stories after somebody does something really bad.
They did a lot of other stuff first but nobody wants to put out any effort and they get away with it. People don't press charges, people don't show up in court, the prosecutors are lazy, etc.
Until they do something so bad nobody can ignore it.
That's too late.

Put another nail in his coffin. Get support of your management, and do it.

If you were in the scope of employment, they ought to support you, especially if this is USPS.

quote:

Ironically, this kid lives on my route, and the local magistrate is also part of my route. I'll be delivering his summons to court, I might even have to get him to sign for it.

Just do the right thing. You know what that is. I would ask for a different route if you are concerned about seeing him again. The penalty for assaulting a USPS worker is pretty steep if I recall. {I recognize he stopped short of striking you.}

Black92, I'm not really sure of the process. I live in PA, and will appear before a magistrate. They have different days for different things: Domestic, traffic, criminal, etc. They have a morning and afternoon session. You don't get a specific time. I only know this because I deliver their mail.

Working at the PO, if you can't make it in the morning, you pretty much have to take the day off. You have to put your route up, and then break it down. If I get an afternoon session, I can still work in the morning, and give time away. You'd have to work at the PO to understand.

I honestly haven't discussed this much with my supervisors. I realize they have to give me the day off. I'm not really too concerned about this kid, and changing routes is out of the question.

Even the LEO said it would be a few months.

Stay tuned!

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
I'll be delivering his summons to court, I might even have to get him to sign for it.

I would recommend against this. If that needs to be a conversation with your supervisor that someone else is going to need to make a special trip, then so be it. You are the victim of a crime and you absolutely should not be delivering court paperwork to the defendant.

I realize yours is a very unique situation, but still not a good idea.

They sound like an asshole.

But did they *really* try to run you over? Or was it maybe more like them goosing the gas for a sec to fuck with you, like the opposite of brake-checking someone? (Still a dick move, obviously, but far different from attempted murder or whatever the charge would be).

Like, did your deft moves and pepper spray at-the-ready really save you from a violent loon actually looking to hurt you, or just deter a stupid asshole who was trying to look tough?

For a real threat, they sort of gave up easily - no?

Screw the guy, regardless. All of it was wrong...

Having the off duty LEO witness it is a golden opportunity to stop this guy. If you drop the matter, he will eventually hurt someone, and possibly get away with it.

Do whatever it takes to do your part. Ideally the off duty LEO would write out his observations asap, so nothing is lost over time. The DA should be pursuing this, but then again they want easy cases that result in convictions. If the LEO supports your position, go with it if possible.

quote:

If you were in the scope of employment, they ought to support you, especially if this is USPS.

I went to court directly related to an on the clock incident, I had to use regular annual leave.

Your employee assistance program may offer some help in this regard. Look into it.