Postal worker died after fight delivering mail, deputies say. Investigation ongoing
.JPG "U.S. Postal Service letter carrier of 12 years, Jamesa Euler, delivers mail, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, in Atlanta. The financially struggling U.S. Postal Service wants to stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week under a plan aimed at saving about $2 billion a year. (AP Photo/David Goldman)")
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday asked the public for information related to an alleged fight involving a Postal Service worker on his route that resulted in the mail carrier’s death.
Fernando Santoya, 63, died Tuesday night at an area hospital after a fight around noon that day on the 700 block of South Polk Avenue, east of Kearney Park, said Tony Botti, sheriff’s office spokesman.
No arrests have been made.
Witnesses told detectives that Santoya, who worked as a rural route mail carrier, got into an argument with a work crew that had parked in front of a mailbox. Witnesses said the work crew moved their vehicle away from the mailbox once Santoya arrived, but the argument escalated into Santoya trying to punch one of the workers.
“In an effort to defend himself, the man punched back, striking Santoya once in his face,” Botti said. “Sontoya stumbled and then collapsed. The workers noticed he was no longer breathing, so one of them began CPR on Santoya while another worker placed a 911 call. Deputies and EMS personnel arrived and arranged for Santoya to be transported to the hospital.”
The cause of Santoya’s death is pending the results of an autopsy performed Thursday.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 559-600-3111, Detective Gary Haslam at 559-600-8209, or Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867 or valleycrimestoppers.org, where tips can be made anonymously and may be eligible for a cash reward.
This story was originally published December 20, 2018 at 5:11 PM.
