Letter Carrier Francis Franklin was exchanging pleasantries with two residents while delivering mail recently in a Buffalo, NY, neighborhood when a girl ran up to them, frantically asking for help.
A stranger was in her house, she said.
One of the neighbors called 911 and stayed with the girl while the other accompanied Franklin to investigate.
The Postal Service employee soon observed a man with a backpack, dusting himself off near an open window of the girl’s home.
Franklin asked the man what he was doing there, and he replied that it was his aunt’s house.
Knowing all the residents on his route, Franklin then asked for the aunt’s name.
He got no response, and the man remained on the scene.
Police officers soon arrived, discovered stolen items in the man’s backpack and arrested him.