Neighbors in Brookline rallying behind longtime mailman attacked with baseball bat

PITTSBURGH — The victim, Charlie Schmiedlin, worked at this post office on Castle Shannon Boulevard.

Now neighbors in Brookline are delivering for him in a big way.

“It’s a heartbreaking thing to hear that somebody who was just trying to serve his community was attacked for no reason,” said USPS Employee Donovan Miller.

Miller is talking about the attack of his coworker, fellow postal worker Charlie Schmiedlin.

On Saturday, police arrested 43-year-old Mathew Harrison after they say he attacked Schmiedlin while he was delivering mail with a baseball bat.

According to the Criminal Complaint, Schmiedlin had blood all over his body, broken wrists and arms, and his eyes are nearly swollen shut.

Harrison ran from the scene to his house on Dorchester. Officers arrested him after an hours-long stand-off in brookline.

“You work with a guy six days a week. you work through the holidays. it takes a special kind of person to deliver the mail for 25 years,” said Miller.

He told channel 11 that he started a gofundme to help Schmiedlin and his wife with all of the medical bills and anything else they need after this attack.

Miller says he just wanted to help.

“We had to do something for his wife. We needed her to know that she wasn’t alone. More people than I expected were willing to come out and donated,” said Miller.

A neighbor on Charlie’s mail route told us off camera that her sister-in-law saw the attack and called 911. They’re also holding a fundraiser. So now the customers he’s served for many years are coming together to deliver for him when he needs it most.

The suspect, Mathew Harrison, is facing attempted homicide and aggravated assault charges.

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