A Winchester man is facing federal charges after allegedly attacking a U.S. postal worker over a package. Officials say the parcel held more than 1 kilogram of cocaine.

According to investigators, the U.S. Postal Service worker was trying to deliver an Express package from Puerto Rico to an address in Dorchester on Oct. 24 when things went wrong.

The person the package was addressed to didn’t respond when the deliveryman arrived, court documents say, so he left a redelivery notice and walked back to his vehicle. That’s when 29-year-old Raymond Acevedo reportedly walked up to the delivery worker, said something like, “Hey, mailman,” and demanded the package.


When the postal worker refused to hand it over, Acevedo allegedly grabbed the package and ran toward a car parked nearby. The deliveryman began taking photos of the car’s license plate, so Acevedo reportedly got out of the car and tried to grab the worker’s phone.

Acevedo is accused of assaulting the postal worker by throwing him to the ground, which caused the man to hit his head on the pavement.

The worker then got up and climbed into the driver’s seat of Acevedo’s car to prevent him from leaving with the package. Acevedo and the man continued to struggle as a bystander called 911, documents say.

The deliveryman was taken to a hospital and treated for head, neck, and back pain, and cuts on his face, chin, hands, knees, and arms.

A search warrant was obtained to find out what was in the package Acevedo tried to steal. Investigators found it contained 1.39 kilograms of cocaine.

Acevedo was charged with one count of assaulting a federal postal worker and one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office.

The cocaine distribution charge has a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 40, and the assault on a federal postal worker charge can carry a sentence of up to 20 years.