UPTOWN — An Uptown postal worker who loaned his cellphone to a customer to fix a delivery issue had the phone stolen by the next customer, police said.
The phone was later sold for $20 to buy crack, according to police.
Mohamad Azamuddin, 62, a supervisor at the post office at 4850 N. Broadway, said he loaned his phone March 3 to a customer who was agitated about a package delivery.
“She started getting louder so I handed her my phone and said, ‘Talk to the carrier,'" said Azamuddin, who has worked for the Postal Service for 28 years since arriving in the United States in 1970 from his hometown near Hyderabad, India.
As the customer spoke on Azamuddin's cellphone, the office’s landline rang, and he stepped back to speak to his boss. Azamuddin said he watched from behind the service window as the woman finished the call, set down his cellphone and walked away.
Behind her in line was a man who had been in the office three times that day, first trying to exchange pennies and nickels for bills, and later to pick up a check, Azamuddin said. During that second visit, Azamuddin said he photocopied the man's checkbook.
This time, the man was accompanied by a woman, Azamuddin said, adding that he had a partial view of the pair through the teller window as he finished his call with his boss.
"The man has his arm up on the window saying he’s waiting for his check, and the lady puts her hand underneath his arm and takes the phone, and I saw her," said Azamuddin.
"'Why are you taking that?' I asked, and she ran away," said Azamuddin.
Azamuddin asked the man to chase her down, and the man said he would get the phone for Azamuddin. First though, the man demanded $3, the supervisor said.
"'I said ‘No problem.' I said 'Twenty dollars, fifty dollars man, I need that phone.' He says 'I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna get it,'" Azamuddin said.
Azamuddin said he waited until 7 or 8 p.m. at the post office, but the man didn't return. The police did, though, bearing bad news.
"The police got here, and they [said] 'The gentleman, his girlfriend sold that phone for $20 to buy crack,'" Azamuddin said.
Two days later, Azamuddin bought another Samsung phone for $800. Still, he lost an important text message, his phone list and some numbers related to his job.
“I thought the post office was the most secure thing, and now this thing has happened and it’s really a shock to me,” said Azamuddin.
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