Man accused of mail truck heist, reckless rampage, indicted by federal grand jury
Feb 14, 2024, 10:43 PM | Updated: Feb 15, 2024, 6:38 am
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal grand jury has indicted a man accused of stealing a mail truck, leading to a multi-county reckless rampage of apparently crashing into cars and attempting to run people over, before barricading himself in the truck.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury returned the indictment against 32-year-old Wilber Castellanos Hernandez, charging the foreign national with federal crimes. Court documents allege Hernandez stole the U.S. Postal Service truck on Feb. 2 at an apartment complex at 592 N. Redwood Road.
According to the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office, witnesses told police that a suspicious man was checking door handles and breaking into vehicles.
Witnesses and a postal employee would later tell responding officers that the same man, identified as Hernandez, got into the mail truck and threatened the employee and witnesses with a knife.
The attorney’s office said a witness tried to hit Hernandez with a piece of wood, but Hernandez was able to start the truck and take off. KSL TV visited the apartment complex and spoke to several neighbors. One person’s security cameras picked up video of the mail truck driving off, as others ran behind it.
A second video shows a man holding what appears to be a wooden board, swinging it around after Hernandez allegedly took off.
Another person said they watched the situation from inside their window and could see what appeared to be a fight between three men. On his way out, Hernandez allegedly crashed into an SUV.
A woman told KSL TV she owns the SUV and came home to find her car heavily damaged from the ordeal.
Hernandez was found in Davis County, according to the complaint, after being tracked there using GPS by the U.S. postal inspectors. He is then accused of driving recklessly through the county, nearly running over people including a police officer and hitting other vehicles.
He came to a stop in Centerville, where officers took Hernandez into custody after he apparently barricaded himself in the truck, throwing items out of it. Hernandez is charged with carjacking, mail theft and theft of government property. His initial court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
