Dan Shapiro
Member
If the cops are worth anything they should be able to get one of the kids to narc on the whole group for everything.
neighborhood hoodlums
- Thread starter HABU
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If the cops are worth anything they should be able to get one of the kids to narc on the whole group for everything.
gwalchmai
Member
Seems to me that if you get everyone in the neighborhood aware of the problem, eventually someone will see it happening, and perhaps record it.
X-10 Video Cams and motion detectors are inexpensive; you can make up a "record the action" set for under $300, including cheap VCR.
My former in-laws had this same mailbox road-eo knockdown problem about 20 years back....The then father-in-law solved it this way....
Took a piece of railroad rail about 8 ft long, buried one end in a 4x4x4 foot hole filled with concrete, welded on a slab of 3/4" steel plate, bolted mailbox to plate, and armored the mailbox with 1/2" steel plate. After the 3rd punky boys car got towed away, the problem stopped.
My former in-laws had this same mailbox road-eo knockdown problem about 20 years back....The then father-in-law solved it this way....
Took a piece of railroad rail about 8 ft long, buried one end in a 4x4x4 foot hole filled with concrete, welded on a slab of 3/4" steel plate, bolted mailbox to plate, and armored the mailbox with 1/2" steel plate. After the 3rd punky boys car got towed away, the problem stopped.
Rangerover
Member
If I ever face this problem, I'm going the "Armored Mailbox" route. Some diseased personality isn't going to remember a few minutes in Juvie Court and I wouldn't waste my time trying to photograph the perps.
Pain will do more to calm those raging teenage hormones than the law ever could, and experience is the best teacher.
Got a "Little Red Wagon"? Well, bring it with you, sonny. The folks at THR have figured out how to fix it for you.
Best solution to a common nuisance I've heard in years.
Pain will do more to calm those raging teenage hormones than the law ever could, and experience is the best teacher.
Got a "Little Red Wagon"? Well, bring it with you, sonny. The folks at THR have figured out how to fix it for you.
Best solution to a common nuisance I've heard in years.
We had two different cases in the Wichita area concerning vandalism by teens and two very different outcomes.
Case1: Guy comes out of his house and two kids are breaking into his car. He fires a shot that he testifies was a warning shot and kills one of the kids. He is aquitted by a jury. I got to talk to the other kid - they had performed a lot of buglaries and vandalisms in his friends short life.
Case2: Car load of kids performing a 2nd vandalism of a mailbox (there had been other vandalisms on this house - apparently by kids bullying the owners kid). This time dad and kid were in waiting with a firearm. They pursued these kids firing from the vehicle. One kid was hit and killed. This time a jury found the owner guilty and gave him prison and his son juvenile detention. Sad story.
I think the difference was that Case 2 went in pursuit of fleeing criminals. The jury believed that this was a revenge killing. Their belief in the 1st case was the owner was protecting himself and his property and it was an accident.
In your case, waiting for the criminals to show up makes your situation more like case 2. Be careful.
Case1: Guy comes out of his house and two kids are breaking into his car. He fires a shot that he testifies was a warning shot and kills one of the kids. He is aquitted by a jury. I got to talk to the other kid - they had performed a lot of buglaries and vandalisms in his friends short life.
Case2: Car load of kids performing a 2nd vandalism of a mailbox (there had been other vandalisms on this house - apparently by kids bullying the owners kid). This time dad and kid were in waiting with a firearm. They pursued these kids firing from the vehicle. One kid was hit and killed. This time a jury found the owner guilty and gave him prison and his son juvenile detention. Sad story.
I think the difference was that Case 2 went in pursuit of fleeing criminals. The jury believed that this was a revenge killing. Their belief in the 1st case was the owner was protecting himself and his property and it was an accident.
In your case, waiting for the criminals to show up makes your situation more like case 2. Be careful.
King
Member
I believe that if you set a trap for these punks and then physically hurt one of them (ie; the 2nd case in the previous post), you'll be in a world of hurt. Best to go another route.
Interestingly though, there are a lot of interesting mailbox solutions here. Just goes to show you that neccessity is and can indeed be the mother of invention.
Interestingly though, there are a lot of interesting mailbox solutions here. Just goes to show you that neccessity is and can indeed be the mother of invention.
GD I'm glad you brought those two cases up, I was trying to remember the details.
Happened here several years ago, the mailbox was located in a rural area alongside the highway. Homeowner had bulit the type of post you described, a car lost control and ran into it at about 60mph. Don't remember what the exact charges were but it was something along the lines of placing an solid object beside the roadway.
Rangerover
Member
Would be a good idea to check local ordinances. Around where I live several people have their mailboxes ensconced in concrete, like little bunkers. I'm one of those "book smart" but "no common sense" people; I always figured it was just for decorative purposes or something until I read this thread.
If I am ever forced to "armor" my mailbox, I'll certainly make sure it's legal to do so.
If I am ever forced to "armor" my mailbox, I'll certainly make sure it's legal to do so.
Ala Dan
Member in memoriam
Fortunately, this is one problem that I DO NOT have! Most
of the area hoodlums know that I'm a ex-LEO; therefore
they avoid me and my property like the plague!
Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
of the area hoodlums know that I'm a ex-LEO; therefore
they avoid me and my property like the plague!
Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
Happens around here every few years. Eventually the kids get tired of doing it, or grow up. Then some time later some other kids get the idea and start doing it. I have a rubber mailbox, that I got at Home Depot, on a steel post. It is set it in concrete. I paid about $6.00 for the box. It has survived several attacks so far. The cost to defend yourself on a charge of assualt with a firearm is far more than the price of a mailbox. Even if you get these kids, more will eventually come along. It makes you mad, but we have more important things to deal with and defend right now.
MarineTech
Member
My uncle had a similar problem and came up with a novel solution. He was a farmer in a rural area of Maine and his mailbox would get destroyed by kids in the summer, and smashed by the snowplow in the winter. He came up with a rather novel solution. He welded a box out of 1/4" steel and then mounted it onto the big coil suspension spring from a 3 ton potato truck (about the same as a 3 ton flatbed truck). Any impacts to the box would just tip it over and then it would wobble its way back up just like a weeble. That thing has lasted 12 years now with nothing more than a new paint job.
another okie
Member
One of my neighbors has one of heavy steel mounted on a steel post and set in concrete. It does have a little dent in it, but I bet it hurt to do it!
I have a post office box, an easy solution. And why take a chance on someone stealing your mail?
Cabela's sells those cameras for deer hunters, and they would work fine for mailbox smashers.
I have a post office box, an easy solution. And why take a chance on someone stealing your mail?
Cabela's sells those cameras for deer hunters, and they would work fine for mailbox smashers.
Sergeant Bob
Member
That may not be the case. My nephew was caught "dinging" mailboxes when he was 18 or so. He was convicted of a felony , for interfering with the U.S. Mail, that's a Federal rap. He spent 6 months in jail for that little suarez. He learned from his experience, though it was a very expensive lesson.
That said, I've been the victim of some "dingers" twice in the past two weeks, and am going to look into the viability of some of the options mentioned here.
I'll just add to the fray:
Dude, seriously; its just property. Until the laws get changed so that you CAN shoot someone over property, let it go...
Do as others have suggested and get a cement-filled mailbox.
They're just stupid little kids, and I am not sure they deserve bullets for a bit of vandalism...
I think one good lesson (like a cast-iron mailbox, as suggested!) would instantly free them of the desire to pursue these actions in the future....
Dude, seriously; its just property. Until the laws get changed so that you CAN shoot someone over property, let it go...
Do as others have suggested and get a cement-filled mailbox.
They're just stupid little kids, and I am not sure they deserve bullets for a bit of vandalism...
I think one good lesson (like a cast-iron mailbox, as suggested!) would instantly free them of the desire to pursue these actions in the future....
:banghead:NoBite
Member
Two more cents...
Love this thread because it reminds me of our first weekend living in the country. We moved into our new house on a Friday. Saturday evening, about dusk, we heard gunshots nearby. Less than five minutes later a truck coming roaring up our long driveway. A guy jumps out and comes running to the front door, both hands straight up in the air (apparently to show he was unarmed.) Cautiously, I cracked open the front door a bit. He informed me he was our neighbor from up the gravel road a bit. He inquired if we had seen a white chevy truck with a bunch of kids in it. No, we hadn't. The deal was these kids had just bashed his mailbox for the umpteenth time. The neighbor happened to be in his yard and witnessed the bashing. Thinking (?) quickly, he grabbed his .357 from his car and fired several rounds into the air to shock/scare the kids.
No sooner had he gotten this story out of his mouth, another truck came tearing up our driveway! This time two guys got out and just kind of saundered up the sidewalk. By now, my wife and I were on the front porch in amazement at meeting our neighbors in this manner. It seems the other two guys were responding to a citizen-in-distress phone call they received from the elderly lady that also lived up the gravel road. She had heard the gunshots and called the self-proclaimed "neighborhood vigillantes" to investigate. Upon hearing the story, these two fellows informed neighbor #1 that the little old lady had also called the Sheriff and would he please use better judgement next time! At least call the little old lady and tell her not to be worried.
Everyone went back to their respective turfs and I looked at the clock on the wall. 7:15 PM. At about 7:43 PM, a Sheriff's car came down the road with search light searching. I figured right then that the response time to "shots fired" was roughly about 40 minutes. That told me all I needed to know about the need to take personal responsibility for my family's protection! BTW, I made friends with the "neighborhood vigillantes." They really are great guys and have helped me out of a couple tight situations.
Oh yes, to get back to the topic at hand, neighbor #1 changed his mailbox to one of those rubber ones that seem to bounce back from bashings. It's been six years since that incident and we haven't been bothered with mailbox bashers since.
Love this thread because it reminds me of our first weekend living in the country. We moved into our new house on a Friday. Saturday evening, about dusk, we heard gunshots nearby. Less than five minutes later a truck coming roaring up our long driveway. A guy jumps out and comes running to the front door, both hands straight up in the air (apparently to show he was unarmed.) Cautiously, I cracked open the front door a bit. He informed me he was our neighbor from up the gravel road a bit. He inquired if we had seen a white chevy truck with a bunch of kids in it. No, we hadn't. The deal was these kids had just bashed his mailbox for the umpteenth time. The neighbor happened to be in his yard and witnessed the bashing. Thinking (?) quickly, he grabbed his .357 from his car and fired several rounds into the air to shock/scare the kids.
No sooner had he gotten this story out of his mouth, another truck came tearing up our driveway! This time two guys got out and just kind of saundered up the sidewalk. By now, my wife and I were on the front porch in amazement at meeting our neighbors in this manner. It seems the other two guys were responding to a citizen-in-distress phone call they received from the elderly lady that also lived up the gravel road. She had heard the gunshots and called the self-proclaimed "neighborhood vigillantes" to investigate. Upon hearing the story, these two fellows informed neighbor #1 that the little old lady had also called the Sheriff and would he please use better judgement next time! At least call the little old lady and tell her not to be worried.
Everyone went back to their respective turfs and I looked at the clock on the wall. 7:15 PM. At about 7:43 PM, a Sheriff's car came down the road with search light searching. I figured right then that the response time to "shots fired" was roughly about 40 minutes. That told me all I needed to know about the need to take personal responsibility for my family's protection! BTW, I made friends with the "neighborhood vigillantes." They really are great guys and have helped me out of a couple tight situations.
Oh yes, to get back to the topic at hand, neighbor #1 changed his mailbox to one of those rubber ones that seem to bounce back from bashings. It's been six years since that incident and we haven't been bothered with mailbox bashers since.
Ding-resistant mailboxes
As a mail carrier myself, I can tell you that the better one-piece mailboxes like the Step 2 ( www.step2.com ) mailmaster series sold at most home centers are pretty much impervious to neighborhood vandals. It generally takes a direct hit from a car or snowplow to do one of these in. At around $40-50 for the whole shebang (post/box) this is about the best solution. Some models even have a provision for an integrated newspaper recepticle as well. They look nice and neat, come in many non-fade colors, many styles, don't rust, and take most abuse in stride.
Yes, many communities/counties have restrictions on placing solid objects near the right of way, and this precludes many of the stronger mailbox or post designs. A couple of neighbors here in our rural area were told to cease and desist from building brick enclosures for thier mailboxes. We live on a County road, and that carries the restriction. If you really think about it, many of the highway sign and lightposts alongside the road are made to be break-away in the case they're hit by cars.
As for making the box itself heavy, like from 1/4" plate steel or similar, you might run into a problem if someone accidentally runs off the road, hits the box, and that 40-pound chunk of steel goes through the windshield and kills someone. Those bottom-feeding lawyers will try every trick in the book to get big $$$$ out of you if this were to happen. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the USPS itself has a regulation regarding the max weight of a residential curbside mailbox for this very reason. I'll have to check into that.
I have seen some people put guards in front of their mailboxes. Over in heavy snowfall areas, on the major roads where the snow plows are really moving, that thrown snow can take out a box rather easily. They use a couple of 1-1/2"-2" galanized metal pipes embedded in the concrete and on front and back corners of the traffic side of the mailbox, connected at the top with elbows and another short section of pipe. It looks like a big inverted 'U' . In winter they fasten a piece of plywood between the two uprights and that breaks up or deflects the snow thrown from the plows. A side benefit is the mailbox now has a steel pipe guard in front of it to discourage baseball-bat wielding punks in cars.
As a mail carrier myself, I can tell you that the better one-piece mailboxes like the Step 2 ( www.step2.com ) mailmaster series sold at most home centers are pretty much impervious to neighborhood vandals. It generally takes a direct hit from a car or snowplow to do one of these in. At around $40-50 for the whole shebang (post/box) this is about the best solution. Some models even have a provision for an integrated newspaper recepticle as well. They look nice and neat, come in many non-fade colors, many styles, don't rust, and take most abuse in stride.
Yes, many communities/counties have restrictions on placing solid objects near the right of way, and this precludes many of the stronger mailbox or post designs. A couple of neighbors here in our rural area were told to cease and desist from building brick enclosures for thier mailboxes. We live on a County road, and that carries the restriction. If you really think about it, many of the highway sign and lightposts alongside the road are made to be break-away in the case they're hit by cars.
As for making the box itself heavy, like from 1/4" plate steel or similar, you might run into a problem if someone accidentally runs off the road, hits the box, and that 40-pound chunk of steel goes through the windshield and kills someone. Those bottom-feeding lawyers will try every trick in the book to get big $$$$ out of you if this were to happen. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the USPS itself has a regulation regarding the max weight of a residential curbside mailbox for this very reason. I'll have to check into that.
I have seen some people put guards in front of their mailboxes. Over in heavy snowfall areas, on the major roads where the snow plows are really moving, that thrown snow can take out a box rather easily. They use a couple of 1-1/2"-2" galanized metal pipes embedded in the concrete and on front and back corners of the traffic side of the mailbox, connected at the top with elbows and another short section of pipe. It looks like a big inverted 'U' . In winter they fasten a piece of plywood between the two uprights and that breaks up or deflects the snow thrown from the plows. A side benefit is the mailbox now has a steel pipe guard in front of it to discourage baseball-bat wielding punks in cars.
redneck2
Member
True deal....
some of the more interesting local youths were doing the mailbox thing
one neighbor that they didn't like, and had been a victim numerous times, put upright pipes along each side of the mailbox...so, to get at it, the little darling tried to hit straight down as they drove by...
he neglected to consider what would happen when the car was still moving and the ball bat was stuck between the pipes
after getting out of the hospital with his cast, his father sued the homeowner for setting a "trap" ......and won
Didn't say it's right or I like it, but it's true. Happened in St. John, IN. Refer to above thread about bottom feeding lawyers
some of the more interesting local youths were doing the mailbox thing
one neighbor that they didn't like, and had been a victim numerous times, put upright pipes along each side of the mailbox...so, to get at it, the little darling tried to hit straight down as they drove by...
he neglected to consider what would happen when the car was still moving and the ball bat was stuck between the pipes
after getting out of the hospital with his cast, his father sued the homeowner for setting a "trap" ......and won
Didn't say it's right or I like it, but it's true. Happened in St. John, IN. Refer to above thread about bottom feeding lawyers
Apple a Day
Member
Tilting at windmills...another solution
Here is another mechanical solution:
If you can move the post back a couple of feet then do so. Go to the local hardware store and get a spring-loaded hinge... they make heavy duty ones for gates and they're cheap. Take a couple of pieces of wood (say, cheap pine 2x4s) and make an arm coming out of the post, attached with the spring-loaded hinge, then attach the mailbox to the downwind side of the arm.
That will make the mailbox harder to hit [being on the back side of the arm] and if they do manage to hit it the spring/hinge will absorb the blow.
The spring/hinge will also avoid harpooning someone's car.
I had a similar sort of incident this past Halloween with some hoodlums smashing pumpkins. I was just sitting down at the end of the allotted trick-or-treat time for the town when a kid walked up and nabbed my remaining Jack O' Lantern. I started with 2 and one had already disappeared. I ran the kid down and yelled at him, called his parents. The parents were worse than the kid... the worst sort of trash, probably future guests on the Jerry Springer show. I had a cop stop by and chew the kid out. Apparently he and his buddies are in trouble quite often. The next morning after calming down- more angry at the parents than the kids- I was wondering if I hadn't overreacted; then the kid next door came out, saw the pumpkin she had taken hours carving smashed all over the parking lot, and started bawling. She's ~8 years old. I'm not the emotional sort but I got choked up seeing a little girl that hearbroken. I'm glad I got the little ***** that did it.
Here is another mechanical solution:
If you can move the post back a couple of feet then do so. Go to the local hardware store and get a spring-loaded hinge... they make heavy duty ones for gates and they're cheap. Take a couple of pieces of wood (say, cheap pine 2x4s) and make an arm coming out of the post, attached with the spring-loaded hinge, then attach the mailbox to the downwind side of the arm.
That will make the mailbox harder to hit [being on the back side of the arm] and if they do manage to hit it the spring/hinge will absorb the blow.
The spring/hinge will also avoid harpooning someone's car.I had a similar sort of incident this past Halloween with some hoodlums smashing pumpkins. I was just sitting down at the end of the allotted trick-or-treat time for the town when a kid walked up and nabbed my remaining Jack O' Lantern. I started with 2 and one had already disappeared. I ran the kid down and yelled at him, called his parents. The parents were worse than the kid... the worst sort of trash, probably future guests on the Jerry Springer show. I had a cop stop by and chew the kid out. Apparently he and his buddies are in trouble quite often. The next morning after calming down- more angry at the parents than the kids- I was wondering if I hadn't overreacted; then the kid next door came out, saw the pumpkin she had taken hours carving smashed all over the parking lot, and started bawling. She's ~8 years old. I'm not the emotional sort but I got choked up seeing a little girl that hearbroken. I'm glad I got the little ***** that did it.
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ojibweindian
Member
As far as I know, my little redneck area of the backwoods does not have this kind of problem. Way too many people around here who deal with this kind of problem the old-fashioned way.
Robby from Long Island
Member
Boy, do I feel lucky. I live in the suburbs where most of the people have their mailboxes attached to the front of their houses by the front door.
Of course they could use shoulder fired missles...........
Of course they could use shoulder fired missles...........
Walther P99
Member
The steel/concrete solution has definite potential.
I agree with the person who said pain will do a lot more than the law ever will. 100% true.
I agree with the person who said pain will do a lot more than the law ever will. 100% true.
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