Panorama City : 2 Men Sentenced in Post Office Robbery

Two Los Angeles men have been sentenced iS. District Court in the armed robbery of the Panorama City Post Office at 14416 Chase St.

Joseph Hubert Malbrough, 23, and Jack Benny Williams, 21, were each sentenced Monday to 13 years and one month in federal prison.

The robbery took place at 5 p.m. May 1 when Malbrough and Williams demanded money from the postal window clerks at Panorama City, Postal Inspector Pamela Prince said. Malbrough pulled a customer out of line and waved a semiautomatic assault weapon in the air, witnesses said.

The two men were given money by the clerks and ran out, but were followed by postal service employees and several customers. The crowd chased Williams, and a female letter carrier knocked him to the ground. Other postal employees tied Williams’ feet together with a belt until Los Angeles police officers arrived.

Meanwhile, a window clerk and another person chased Malbrough on motorcycles, catching up to him and circling him until they could flag down police. Malbrough had tossed his gun into the flower bed of a nearby restaurant. The gun was recovered later.

“At one point, one of the fleeing suspects said that every time he turned around, there was a mob of people running after him,� Prince said. “It goes to show you what can happen when you get that level of community and employee involvement.�

In fiscal year 1995, Prince noted, 15 people have been arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of robbing postal service employees at post office facilities.