Smashed Mailbox - Anyone else?

As we were leaving Saturday morning, we noticed that our mailbox had been vandalized. It look like someone took 3 good swings with a ball bat to the top of it. About a month ago, our neighbors both had their mailboxes knocked off in what appeared to be a case of drive-by mailbox baseball. We live on Vestals Gap. Is this a problem in the rest of the neighborhood as well? We just moved here at the end of April, so I'm not sure if there is a history of this in the neighborhood or if we are unlucky.

 

Join the club. Sorry.

 

How do you go about fixing smashed in mailbox ? do you get replacement mailbox ? ( where would we get it if we needed it ?? )

 

Late reply. Live on Vestals Gap too - got bashed a second time a couple of months ago after replacing old mailbox.

Very annoying.

 

Yup - we got it too....seems to be in August, kids go down the street in a car, hitting mailboxes...wow what fun!! NOT!!! It's very annoying.....time for the kids to get back to school.

 

There is a security patrol during the night - I would love for these vandals to get caught!!! Seems to happen every summer!

 

Be sure to report it.

 

The following is just a reminiscence - not intended as a suggestion.

Once long ago I lived in the country, with a large roadside mailbox down at the end of the driveway. It got repeatedly wacked due to idle youth passing by in cars with baseball bats in their hands, and after a few days of thought, I worked out a solution. I went to my local home supply store and bought a length of plastic drain pipe about 8" in diameter. I cut it to just fit into the mailbox, and sealed off the back end with duct tape. I stood the mailbox on its back end, inserted the pipe into the approximate center of the box, then poured a cement mix into the surrounding area of the mailbox, providing about a 2" to 4" layer of concrete surrounding the plastic cylinder in the center of the box. The result, after hardening, was a perfectly adequate mail container in the center of the box surrounded by a rather hard protective layer of cement.

The only follow-on data I have is that about a week later I noticed a very slight crease in the side of the box - no other damage insdie or out. For days I thought about canvassing nearby emergency rooms for a broken arm . . . .:rolleyes3:

 

When it happened to us, we did report it, unfortunately these guys weren't caught, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it again this year.

 

Some people on Vestal's have surveillance cameras, so mentioning it on the forums is a good idea also.

 

Great story, I know a guy that lived in Jefferson County, WV and he was doing this in the late 80's. He ran into a mailbox where a guy did a similar thing. He broke his hand and it was the last time he ever attempted to smash a mailbox...it works

 

My dad did something similar but with 1/4 inch plate steel around our mailbox. I can still hear the ring of a bat hitting it and the sound of teen screaming about a broken wrist.

 

Paint Balling House, Stealing Sold sign from front of house. Where are the security patrols?? I never see them any more??

 

There are multiple little pods of losers who think this is funny.packs I understand but destruction of property isn't a prank, it's vandalism. No respect I tell ya! Bet these are the first kids to whine and cry to their mommies when someone eggs their own car or breaks their ipod...

 

Perhaps "upgrade" the mailboxes to the heavy duty metal ones like on Glebe View. I realize they are more expensive, but hopefully only once. They also don't look as dated as the wooden post, etc in most of the neighborhood.

 

I will put the videoon tonight!!!!!!

 

Damaging, destroying or tampering with mail boxes or with the US mail is a federal crime, punishable by a fine and/or up to three years of imprisonment.

 

Apparently they're out in the early morning hours....starting at Midnight I think, not 100% sure.....

 

They patrol different shifts each day, sometimes starting early evening, sometimes later, but they are out overnight.

 

Say....I keep seeing a security car parked over on the side of the road on Croson Lane that leads out to Belmont Ridge Road. The car is parked on the side across from the new single family/townhouse development and driver is just sitting there on the side relaxing....Not sure if he's supposed to be ACTIVELY driving around or what? Just a heads up here, tis all.