Officials announced Thursday, officials said two men were arrested after being caught in a series of violent robberies of a U.S. mail carrier arrested in Riverside County later last month.
In a news release, Riverside County Sheriff’s Office officials said just before 11am on March 24, deputies assigned to the Palm Desert Sheriff’s station responded to one of the suspicious robbers of the crew near Storke and Villas Drive.
At the scene, authorities reportedly found that a U.S. postal worker was reportedly robbed at muzzle by one of the suspected suspects who left the vehicle driven by his suspected partner and demanded the mail carrier’s belongings, investigators said.
Both suspects then fled to the vehicle.
An RSO detective assigned to the Palm Desert Business District team took over the investigation and was able to identify 28-year-old Los Angeles resident Jose Esteban Chavalia Jr. and 32-year-old Victorville resident Luis Alberto Gonzalez as duo involved in the robbery.
“During the investigation, several additional robberies and attempted robbery by the US Post Officer were determined to have occurred in several cities in Cathedral and Los Angeles County,” the release states. “Arrest warrants have been issued for both suspects.”
The suspect is seen during a robbery of a US mail worker in Los Angeles on March 20, 2025.
On March 25, the US Postal Service Inspection Service announced a $150,000 reward for information that led to the arrest of two men who robbed the post office in the Valley Village area of San Fernando Valley.
The 13-year-old reported that he was overlooked as dead from a road in Southern California.
In that case, the three suspects were captured on surveillance cameras fleeing the scene in a white Honda four-door sedan, and reportedly attempted to steal two other lettermen the same day.
“The attempts to rob and rob are the Sherman Oaks, Tarzana and
The testing service said in a news release. Two of the suspects were allegedly young Hispanic men wearing face masks.
On March 28th, four days after the robbery of Palm Desert, Chavalia and Gonzalez were arrested for an unrelated vehicle execution halt in Burbank and transferred to RSO custody.
They were booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center for the robbery.
So far, investigators have not said whether they believe the 32- and 28-year-olds are involved in post office robbery committed in the San Fernando Valley area.
The US Postal Service office is undertaking an investigation and is expected to refer the case to the US Lawyer’s Office for submission.
Anyone with information about these cases is encouraged to contact RSO Deputy Granados at 760-836-1600.
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