MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE – Two armed men stole a van full of Amazon packages at gunpoint on the afternoon of December 21st according to police. Dressed in black with masks covering their faces, the pair approached a female drive, pointed a gun at her and took the delivery van around 1:18 p.m.
The driver was not injured during the van jacking, and is employed by Diversified Logistics Solutions, who owned the van and is a contract carrier for Amazon. According to police, there were 73 packages in the van when it was taken. The van and 5 packages were located a short time later on Fourth Avenue. Police believe that the other 68 packages were transferred into a black SUV with tinted windows. Neither the SUV, the suspects or the packages have been located.
With the heist happening just 4 days before Christmas, there were undoubtedly a lot of disappointed children and adults on Christmas morning. Fortunately, the driver was not injured. Many companies have policies preventing employees from carrying guns while on the job, and while the specific company policies of DLS and Amazon are not known, some companies allow employees to carry stun guns or pepper spray.
Delivery drivers are usually working alone, in unfamiliar surroundings, and are often distracted by the demands of the job, which can be especially hectic during the days leading up to Christmas. They are constantly on the move from the driver’s seat to the cargo area to front porches and back to the van, and are often paying attention to GPS units, street signs, house numbers, bar code scanners and sorting packages. For most, their situational awareness is probably focused on dogs more so than people.
