Shocking moment postal worker is punched in the head by career criminal who flew into a rage when his package didn’t arrive – as neighbor shares video of him breaking into her backyard

A beloved California postal worker was punched in the head by a career criminal who flew into a rage when his package didn’t arrive.

The shocking attack was captured by a home surveillance camera when postal worker Bruce Jennings was allegedly beaten by the suspect John Ross in a Gardena neighborhood last month.

Ross, 39, has a decades-long criminal history that includes assault with a deadly weapon and burglary, ABC7 reported.

He is notoriously known for allegedly attacking people, breaking into properties and stealing items, as videos seemingly depict him allegedly breaking into neighbors’ homes on multiple occasions.

He was arrested last week for breaking into another home and is still in custody without bail. However, no charges have been filed against Ross for assaulting the mailman on February 21st.

Jennings, who has worked for more than 20 years for the U.S. Postal Service, had just finished delivering mails when Ross approached him.

Ross allegedly asked Jennings to deliver a package to a vacant home where he was allegedly squatting and became upset upon realizing there was no package for him.

Surveillance footage shows the 39-year-old suspect appearing to wait at the doorstep and starting to yell at Jennings.

As Jennings walked away, Ross allegedly punched him in the back of his head, causing Jennings to almost fall to the ground.

The postal worker dropped all the packages he was holding, and footage shows mail scattered on the street.

‘I’m dropping the mail, and at that point it was defense mode for me. Prior to that, as I was approaching him, he is telling me he could do me foul. I don’t know what that means,’ Jennings said. 

Video shows Jennings trying to defend himself from the suspect, as the two men circled each other. They both fell to the ground at one point. 

‘He said something to the mailman as he was coming by,’ a witness who did not wish to be identified told KTLA. 

They added: ‘The mailman didn’t say anything. He tried to walk past him and the guy took a swing at the back of his head and attacked him from behind. Then it got into a little bit of a fight.’ 

The vicious attack left the entire community in outrage, as neighbors said that Jennings has done an outstanding job serving the community. 

Neighbor Derek Martin said: ‘He’s the first one that greets you when you move here. We all came together because Bruce is someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty with his job. He’s just a guy you hate to see this happen to.’ 

Carol Nishijima agreed, saying, ‘Our problem was that Bruce, who’s the nicest guy in the world, got sucker punched.’ 

She continued: ‘[The suspect] floored him and started whaling on him. We’ve been trying to get John Ross out of the neighborhood for quite a while now.’ 

Nishijima claimed the notorious attacker grew up around Gardena and has been breaking and entering into people’s homes since he was a youngster. 

Ross no longer has family living in the community, but he continues to linger around and instill fears among the neighbors, other residents claim. 

Christine Cojulun, who lives nearby, shared a video that captures Ross allegedly breaking into her backyard in January. 

‘He was stealing some of our patio furniture and after that, we found out that he was squatting in an empty house,’ she said. 

Ross is set to make a court appearance on March 19 after he was arrested for allegedly breaking into another home last week.  

The Postal Inspection Service did not immediately respond to the DailyMail.com’s request for comment.