Pittsburgh community shows support for mailman brutally attacked with baseball bat
PITTSBURGH — A community is rallying behind their longtime mail carrier who was beaten while doing his job over the weekend.
"I was just really disturbed that someone would try to kill my postman for no reason because everyone in the neighborhood really loves him. He's a sweetheart," said Rachel Anton.
Residents in Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood are still in shock about what happened. According to a criminal complaint, postal worker Charles Schmiedlin was badly beaten by a man with a baseball bat while he was finishing up his route on Saturday.
"He's a really good guy, everybody loves Charlie, everybody," said Maureen Morgan.
Neighbors said that Schmiedlin has been delivering mail in the area for 25 years and he moved into the community a few years ago. They said he is kind and well-respected. Some neighbors plan to go door to door to raise money for Schmiedlin.
"He's the best, he's really a great mailman. He watches out for everybody. If somebody's mail is piling up, he'll contact the neighbors and say can you check what's wrong," Morgan said.
According to the criminal complaint, a man attacked Schmiedlin from behind while he was outside his postal vehicle on Castlegate Avenue in an area that is technically Mt. Lebanon.
There was then an hours-long standoff at the suspect's home in Brookline not far from where the attack happened. Matthew Harrison, 43, was eventually taken into custody.
"It really bothered me because I don't understand why somebody would want to do that to him, and it creeped me out a lot because it was a neighbor like two or three houses away," Anton said.
The criminal complaint details how Schmiedlin's wrists and arms appeared broken and it looked like he also had severe injuries on his head and back.
Neighbors said that Schmiedlin knows his alleged attacker because he has been delivering mail in the area for so long. The complaint said that he never had an issue with Harrison and the motive for the attack is unknown.
Schmiedlin is still recovering in the hospital. Harrison is facing charges of attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault.
