An Orlando postal worker is facing federal charges after allegedly dumping more than 1,000 pieces of mail, including a mail-in ballot and hundreds of other pieces of political mail, into a wooded area. Ottis McCoy Jr. was arrested yesterday following the discovery of the discarded mail by a coworker and an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Initial suspicions about McCoy arose when his manager noticed him returning from his assigned delivery route earlier than normal, despite leaving with a substantial volume of mail that day. Upon checking the GPS from McCoy’s vehicle, it was confirmed that he had deviated to a location far from his planned delivery path, according to WFTV. In the wooded lot, scattered pieces of mail were located, and thrown away negligently.
A nearby resident's surveillance footage appears to show McCoy in the act, as obtained by federal authorities. The video seems to capture McCoy as he arrives at the site in his Postal van and tosses mail into the foliage. Stills from the footage, included in the criminal complaint, depict a figure near the van who appears engaged in the act of flinging the mail into the surrounding vegetation. "I’m just shocked," Angel Cruz, a local resident, told FOX 35 Orlando, reflecting the community's reaction to the breach of trust and concern over the security of mail-in voting.
