The U.S. postmaster for Utica was reported to be in River Region Medical Center this morning after he was attacked in a robbery at the rural Hinds County post office Thursday.

The robber was arrested by Utica police and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department, but neither he nor the postmaster, who was hit in the head with a blunt object, was identified.

Police Chief Timothy Myles said he could not release names without approval from federal authorities, who were in charge of the investigation because the crimes occurred at a federal installation.

The robbery left the cash drawer at the post office nearly empty, Myles said, but he would not say how much was initially in the drawer or how much was taken in the robbery reported in an anonymous tip around 2:15 p.m.

No customers were in the post office during the robbery.