Santa Monica police arrested the man suspected of assaulting or harassing three letter carriers in a three-month period – but he is back on the street because authorities say his crimes aren’t enough to keep him behind bars.
Residents of the 1300 block of 14th Street haven’t gotten their mail for half a week because of three attacks by Davon Ray Morgan, 38, on postal workers since January, according to the United States Postal Service.
‘Delivery is temp suspended; this is an unusual, but a necessary step to protect our employees,’ USPS spokeswoman Natasha Garvin tweeted on Monday.
Morgan was arrested on April 6 on vandalism and drug paraphernalia charges unrelated to the postal worker incidents, but he was released Monday because of a no-cash-bail pandemic measure.
‘Current Los Angeles County Emergency Bail Orders state certain misdemeanors are not subject to pre-trial detention, but instead the offender is provided a citation and released,’ Santa Monica police spokeswoman Lt. Erika Aklufi said.
Morgan has not been charged with the attacks on the letter carriers, but the Santa Monica Police Department confirms he is the suspect.
In the first attack, on January 19, the neighborhood’s long-time letter carrier was attacked with a broomstick at 14th Street and Arizona Avenue, three blocks from the beach.
The Santa Monica police said officers took a report of an assault with a deadly weapon and launched an investigation, but the letter carrier refused to press charges.
‘The case was assigned to our detectives who reached out to the victim several times during the investigation. Approximately one month later, the mail carrier declined prosecution for the incident,’ Aklufi said.
Police said they have not gotten any other reports.
A United States Postal Service (USPS) worker unloads packages from his truck. Mail service has been suspended in a Santa Monica neighborhood due to recent assaults on letter carriers
The 1300 block of 14th street in Santa Monica, pictured, the scene of at least three assaults on mail carriers in recent months, USPS said
Jim Price, who lives next door to where the letter carriers were attacked, said he witnessed one of the incidents.
‘I watched the whole thing,’ he said. ‘He was screaming in the [postal worker’s] face. Extremely threatening. He said ‘I’m going to f— you up.’ He’s six-feet tall. He’s scary.’
Price said that Morgan moved in with an elderly woman on the block and works on and off as her caretaker.
But Price said he has a volatile temper and is often seen menacing neighbors with a golf club.
‘Everyone runs inside when we see him coming, especially the women,’ Price said.
Residents of the 1300 block of 14th Street must pick up their mail after service was suspended due to a string of attacks on letter carriers
The neighbor said that Morgan has been living with the woman for three years, but recently she was hospitalized and he has been unable to enter her apartment.
‘When he’s off the meth, he’s almost lucid,’ Price said. ‘But when he’s methed-out he makes no sense at all.’
U.S. Postal Service investigators are on the case.
‘The Postal Inspector did not believe any reports were made to the USPIS by mail carriers and are working now to locate any other postal workers who may have been victims and obtaining information for an investigation,’ Aklufi wrote in an email.
Price described his values as a ‘left-wing, tree-hugger who loves the homeless.’
The homeless population has mushroomed in Venice, California. A count in 2014 showed only 175 homeless people. Five years later that figure stood at more than 1,200, but in the last year, the situation has spiraled out of control
‘We see fights almost daily. There is drug use out in the open, there is semi nudity as they urinate and defecate under a tree. We’ve had our bikes stolen, there’s fires, there’s needles everywhere, and the kids at the school are exposed to it all,’ one resident said
Crime where the suspect was listed as homeless has risen by 31 percent in Venice over the past year, according to police statistics, analyzed by NBC News . Homeless victims of crime rose by 83 percent in the same period
‘I feel sorry for them,’ he said. ‘But what I’ve seen here has me rethinking all of it.’
The alleged postman harasser will be back in court for the vandalism charge in May, but he’s also under investigation for making criminal threats and battery in March.
‘Once completed, those cases will be presented to either the City Attorney (misdemeanor) or District Attorney (felony) for filing consideration,’ Aklufi said. ‘Investigators in our department and the USPIS to make sure mail can be delivered safely to all our residents.
During the week of April 2, total violent crimes in Greater Los Angeles increased seven percent, with robberies up over 17 percent and assaults up over four percent.
Los Angeles County prosecutor George Gascon, who is the subject of a recall effort, instituted a number of criminal justice reforms that have since blown up in his face.
The recall campaign must get 566,856 signatures by July to force a new election, but the effort is nearly halfway there, having already gathered 200,000.