Officials on lookout for fake postal worker

From the "Thieves in disguise" file comes the story of a man who has carried out one robbery and attempted two others — all while dressed as a U.S. postal worker. The guy's first robbery attempt was at an EZ Pawn location at the East Freeway and Lockwood on March 26; he ended up leaving the store when a clerk asked him for ID. But things went better at a nearby EZ Pawn on Lyons Avenue — there, the guy walked in, looked at some jewelry and then grabbed the pieces and ran out of the store. And no, he wasn't in a hurry to drop them in the mail. "He was acting friendly," Katherine Cabaniss, the executive director of Crime Stoppers, said. "He didn't look suspicious, and he grabbed the merchandise and left."

The man, who is apparently quite ballsy, is believed to have also attempted to knock over the Medical Center Station of the post office in October. A clerk was assaulted during that attempt, but the man didn't get away with anything. "The fact that he was wearing a uniform gave him access to our station," postal inspector George Alpizar told KPRC. We imagine that's also a concern for police: Though the man didn't seem to have been dressed as a mail carrier, an official-looking uniform might give him access to other places he's not supposed to go, too. Not a good thing.

The suspect is described as a black man between 21 and 25 years old, between 5 feet, 10 inches and 6 feet tall with a slim build. In surveillance videos, he was wearing a baseball cap with the postal uniform. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 713.222.TIPS.