Man accused of trying to kill letter carrier with a baseball bat faces federal charge

A man accused of trying to kill an on-duty U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in Pennsylvania now faces a federal charge.

Matthew Harrison, 43, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of attempted murder, according to a June 21 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Authorities say the Pittsburgh man attacked the mail carrier with a “deadly or dangerous weapon” while he was on the job on May 28.

The Mount Lebanon Police Department was called to the attack at 4:24 p.m. local time and “officers discovered a mail carrier who had been assaulted with a baseball bat,” Acting Chief of Police Jason Haberman told WPXI at the time.

He was “covered in blood from his head to his legs,” and bones in his wrists or arms were “nearly exposed,” according to the criminal complaint obtained by TribLive.

Police say Harrison ran home and barricaded himself inside following the attack, according to WPXI. It took several hours before police were able to arrest him.

The defense attorney representing Harrison has not been publicly listed in federal court records as of June 22 and could not be contacted by McClatchy News.

The postal worker told authorities his head was hit from behind while he was delivering mail, TribLive reported. He said he recognized the suspect but had no previous conflicts with him.

“It’s a 25-year employee, the employee worked this route for a number of years and was familiar with the individual,” Haberman told WTAE. “It was an unprovoked attack based on everything we can tell at this point.”

Harrison faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the news release.

This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Man accused of trying to kill letter carrier with a baseball bat faces federal charge."