PHOENIX -- A carjacker pulled a postal worker out of his mail truck Tuesday, then drove off in the truck.

Postal Inspector Patricia Armstrong said a man approached the postal worker near 16th Street and Broadway Road around 2 p.m. and asked for directions.

As the worker responded, the man dragged the worker out of the truck and drove off, Armstrong said.

The man abandoned the truck alongside Interstate 10 near Ray Road.

From there, he jumped a fence into the parking lot of a nearby auto shop and stole another vehicle, Phoenix police said.

The postal worker was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

The carjacker was not caught.

Armstrong said investigators would determine whether any mail was stolen.

"This is very rare," Armstrong said. "We actually had another one about a month ago where someone carjacked a mail carrier. I think it's just a crime of opportunity."

Robbing a mail carrier is a federal offense.