No Reason to Delay Reward

* Your article “Surf City’s Main Drag” (Aug. 2) included a follow-up on the capture of (murder suspect) Mark Hilbun at the Centerfield Sports Bar and Grill.

While he was a fugitive, the Postal Service so feared for the safety of other employees that mail delivery was canceled for a time, and security became a priority at the Dana Point Post Office. Due to the brutal nature of the crime and the ongoing threat to others, a reward was offered in hopes of a speedy arrest.

An alert patron and bartender accomplished exactly what the reward offer intended. Now the government wants to wait for a conviction? We are talking years here. Come on, pay the money now. There was an intensely urgent need to capture Hilbun, and two people are entitled to good-faith payment without being told afterward to read the fine print.

B.B. YARBOROUGH

Huntington Beach