'Creepy' mailman charged with harassment against women pleads not guilty

TACOMA, Wash. — Asha Brooks said her mailman Robert Taitano made her so uncomfortable, when she knew the mail was due, she would close her blinds.

“One day he did come and deliver my mail and he kind of looked in my window, and I thought that was creepy.”

Brooks said Taitano didn’t just peek, but walked off her front step past her mailbox, peering into her apartment.

“And I was kind of like, 'Whoa! Did you see that guy, the mailman?' I was like,'OK now that’s definitely weird,'" she said.

Tacoma police claim Taitano, 55, has been doing more than making women uncomfortable. He was charged Thursday with burglary, harassment and assault all with sexual motivation.

Taitano is accused of grabbing one woman, continually propositioning women for sex, shouting profanities at a 76-year-old woman,  and in one case walking into a woman's apartment while she was in the bathroom. Police say complaints to the postal service about his behavior go back ten years.

“He would say very sexually explicit things to them, which was offensive,” Tacoma police spokeswoman Officer Loretta Cool said .

Other women on Taitano’s route told KIRO 7 he displayed odd behavior.

A woman who runs a Miss Alice’s Precious Jewels day care center said Taitano would continually ask to use her bathroom while working his route.

“Yes I did get a weird feeling about him,” said the woman who declined to give her name. “Because I figured if he was delivering mail he was supposed to deliver mail, not come and use the rest room.”

Taitano pleaded not guilty to the charges during an arraignment at Pierce County Superior court on Thursday. His bail was set at $35,000.

KIRO 7 contacted a spokesman with the Office of Inspector General to ask about complaints lodged against Taitano with the U.S. Postal Service. Spokesman John Masters said the office couldn’t comment on the case.

Want to talk about the news of the day? Watch free streaming video on the KIRO 7 mobile app and iPad app, and join us here on Facebook.

KIRO