Whittier residents active on a neighborhood Facebook page were complaining this week that they've not been receiving mail.
"Yes! No mail for a week, and we are at 21st & Vine," wrote one commenter.
"My normal mailman hasn't been around all week," said another.
A third comment read: "The police knocked on my door on Monday (29th & Humbolt) because the mailman had been robbed. So yes, your mail has likely been stolen by someone. I was shocked USPS didn't have to give us some sort of notification."
On Saturday, U.S. Postal Service spokesperson David Rupert confirmed that a mail carrier had been attacked earlier in the week, which resulted in a short suspension of service.
"We stopped delivery that day to the neighborhood for obvious reasons," he wrote to Denverite, "but service is restored now."
U.S. Postal Inspector Eric Manuel reported that two men attacked the carrier at about 6:15 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6.
"One male punched the carrier and fled the scene on foot with a tub of small parcels," the report reads. "The second male attempted to take additional packages but was unsuccessful, and he fled in the same direction as the first suspect."
The assailants were described as two black males, "approximately late teens to early 20s." Manuel's statement says the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is seeking more information and security footage related to the incident, and that "a cash reward may be available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible."
Rupert said this kind of thing happens every once in a while. He pointed to a 2012 incident when a Denver postal worker was robbed at knifepoint, and the murder of an Albuquerque carrier last year.
"We handled this one in Albuquerque," Rupert told Denverite. "It was awful."
Meanwhile, the Denver Police Department recently told NPR's Here and Now that they've been tracking package theft since 2015 and they've seen a 68 percent increase in reports.
But Rupert said Whittier residents should be getting their mail, despite the attack on Monday.
Cordell Pearce, who lives at 23rd Avenue and Vine Street, said he still thinks things haven't returned to normal.
