84-year-old checking mail hit and killed by US Postal Service van, NC cops say

A routine walk to the mail box turned deadly for 84-year-old man, when he was backed over by a postal carrier van, according to investigators on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

It happened around 2 p.m. Monday, May 19 in Kill Devil Hills, but James Hofler didn’t succumb to his injuries until May 22, the Kill Devil Hills Police said in a news release.

“The investigation determined that 53-year-old Amy Hudler of Colington was operating a 2021 Mercedes-Benz mail carrier vehicle owned by the United States Postal Service,” officers said. “While backing northbound on Portsmouth Street, Hudler struck (James Hofler) as he was crossing the roadway from east to west to check his mailbox.”

The driver called for help and remained at the scene, “fully cooperating with law enforcement,” officials said.

James Hofler was taken to the Outer Banks Health Hospital in Nags Head and later “transferred to a higher-level medical facility” on the mainland, police said.

An obituary reports he died at East Carolina University Health Medical Center in Greenville, N.C. Hofler was a resident of the Outer Banks town of Kill Devil Hills who served in the U.S. Navy, the obituary says.

Amy Hudler was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, officials said.

Kill Devil Hills is about a 200-mile drive east from Raleigh.