Petty vandalism or precursor to more?

[Archangel]

Ok, so this weekend I spent a pleasant saturday evening at home, had dinner and a movie with the fiance, and headed off to bed. Sunday morning, we got up, had breakfast, and prepared to go out grocery shopping, only to discover that our front door had been egged, and "F*** you" had been written in the dust on the hood of my car.

Let me just say that there are things that I'd rather be doing with my (brisk) November mornings than scrubbing dried egg yolk off my front door.

Anyway, I'm inclined to write it off as kids just being stupid. The thing is, we looked around, and there was no evidence of anything of the sort anywhere else. Just our house. I would expect random vandalism to be a little more random. So I'm feeling a little targeted. Don't have any idea who would be targeting me or why, but there you go.

For now I'm not doing anything other than being a little more alert. It's probably nothing. But I can't help but wondering, if someone does have it in for me, if it will be something more than eggs next time.

 

[Greg L]

With no other indications/reasons for targeting I would write it off as bored kids. Certainly keep your eyes open/alert level heightened but I wouldn't scurry around trying not to be hit by a sniper either.

I too got hit Sunday morning. We were at a hotel & my truck got nailed. In my case however I have a fairly good idea who did it. I'm almost 100% certain that it was the kids playing street hockey in the parking lot who wrote "wash me" on my (admittedly dirty) truck .

Greg

 

[Jim March]

My gut instinct says "if it was personal, there'd be more damage". The foul language would be scratched into your car's paint with a key, not scribbled in window dirt. Y'know?

 

[Penforhire]

Yeah, that damage is way too light. So'd you piss off some neighbor-kids?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

It is a standard military practice of 'softening' the target before the invasion starts.

 

[YammyMonkey]

I don't know, my wife and I had some pretty nasty things written in the dust on the windows of our truck in San Diego and it was a personal thing, but that's as far as it went.

One of those movement-sensing game cameras may be in order, hide it well and at least you'll have proof if there is a next time.

 

[Archangel]

So'd you piss off some neighbor-kids?

Not unless they're pissed about me
a) giving out candy on halloween (to everyone, even if they were too old and didn't have a costume )
b) buying a box of tea when some kids came by selling tea / candy, etc to raise money for their school basketball team
c) being white

Or they don't like the way I check my mail.

I pretty much keep to myself.

 

[SKeefe]

I hope you don't mind if I add my own situation to your thread.

Recently, mine, my fiancee's, and my Dad's mailboxes have been knocked down. My fiancee's was knocked down first, about a month ago. Then her's and mine were knocked down this past Friday night, then hers was knocked down again on Saturday night, as well as my Dad's. No one else's in the neighborhoods have been damaged. It is obvious that it is someone that knows me. I do not really hang out with anyone, but again, it is obviously someone I know. I certainly hope this action does not escalate to anything more serious.

I've stayed up late the past two nights waiting, but nothing happened. The person is most definitely driving either a truck or an SUV. They apparently are pulling up to the mailbox and putting their front bumper against it, and just pushing it over (resulting in them running over the mailbox after it falls also). I know that at least on Saturday night, the damage at my fiancee's happened before 2AM.

I've got a few ideas for both finding out/catching the person, and getting them back while they are in the act. I have a very small budget for these things though. I found some motion detecting lights at Lowes that also have a small device you can bring inside the house that will ring when the sensors detect motion/the lights come on. In the past two nights that I've been up, I would say probably a total of 6 cars have driven by my house after midnight, so I don't think it would be too annoying for it to ring everytime a car drove by, if it could help me catch the person. I also have a few ideas for sturdying the mailbox, and causing damage to their vehicle/tires while they do they act.

Anyone have any ideas/suggestions?

 

[Greg L]

Caltrops scattered around the mailbox area?

Try not to get the mailman though .

 

[SKeefe]

Caltrops scattered around the mailbox area?

Try not to get the mailman though .

I was thinking of getting a 2x4, putting some long nails through it, and burying the 2x4 so that only the nails were sticking up out of the grass. It is obvious where the vehicle goes, as you can see the tire marks as they lead up to the mailbox post. I guess I would probably have to go pick it up out of the ground every morning though, just in case the mailman got out of his truck and happened to step on it.

 

[Declaration Day]

I have seen roadside mailboxes in my area attached to a heavy duty spring instead of a post. It is similar to a car suspension spring, but its height is equal to that of a standard mailbox post.

Perhaps that is something to consider.

 

[SKeefe]

I have seen roadside mailboxes in my area attached to a heavy duty spring instead of a post. It is similar to a car suspension spring, but its height is equal to that of a standard mailbox post.

Perhaps that is something to consider.

Ahh, very interesting. I wonder where I can find something like that; I will have to look around.

 

[Perfesser]

I've seen mailboxes mounted on an old crankshaft. That should be pretty sturdy if it's in concrete deep enough..
Also have heard of using 'spaghetti' drill pipe (it's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter with walls about 1/2 inch thick) - set it about 3 or 4 feet into concrete and look for dented bumpers in the area.
Radio shack has some inexpensive B/W video cameras; the one I have sees pretty well in low light levels - color cameras aren't as sensitive. Hook it to a VCR set to SLP with a 160 min tape. Remember the jerk in Ca. that was videotaped throwing gum onto someone's garage door?

 

[FPrice]

SKeefe...

"Anyone have any ideas/suggestions?"

I have seen trip flares and/or alarms which can be set up as alarm systems. They will let you know when the act is being committed. Just don't set them up in broad daylight when someone can see you.

I am NOT suggesting a booby-trap which would hurt someone, just something to startle the perpetrator and wake you.

 

[TarpleyG]

Read Sylvilagus Aquaticus' post here:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=1012

Greg

 

[Highland Ranger]

Concrete and steel - make it so that if they hit the post, they damage their car.

 

[Langenator]

You could put something sharp and hard near the post that's not high enough to snag the bumber, but is high enough to snag, say, the oil pan...

 

[Hemicuda]

Last time someone was messing with MY stuff, it was a car... SO, when I parked it at night, I ran a garden hose under it for about an hour (making the ground under and all around it all good and wet...)

then i grabbed a dark green extension cord, and cut off the female end...

then i stripped back a few inches of the insulation on the ground wire, and wrapped it around the end of a large cabin-spike (oversized nail) and pushed it into the ground under the car... then i took one of the other wires and wrapped it around the bumper bracket... then plugged the whole mess in... (to a NON gfi outlet) this'll getcha power to the chassis when contact is made between the chassis and the wet ground, but the tires, being principally rubber, are insulators...

when the moron neighbor kid (19 years old) came to syphon some fuel for himself, he grabbed the bumper and got a real shocking experience... I heard the scream, and was up and watching in time to see the moron grab the bumper to try to stand up (the initial shock knocked him down) and watch him take the second poke... this one blew the breaker, and he was kinda incapacitated long enough for me to get there to give him a little lovin' (bootleather style) and call the cops on him...

all you gotta do is use your imagination and nice ideas will come to you...

BTW... the cop, though amused, DID warn me that what I had done WAS technically illegal, and that I should probably be careful... but he was smiling as he said it... use this info at your own expense... and remember, do NOT do this on a car with a computer, as you'll likely fry it all to heck... (the car I used was a '76 Chrysler Cordoba...)

 

[Perfesser]

Do the words 'felony manslaughter' ring any bells? If that kid had died - and putting 120VAC line current through a wet body can kill - you'd be facing serious charges right now. Next time use a fence charger - they can't kill but they sting like h...
Lethal booby traps are illegal, period.

 

[SKeefe]

Well, my fiancee's Dad came up with a very simple idea.

He tied fishing line (pretty much invisible) to the mail box, ran it across the yard and into his bedroom window, and tied the other end to a little bell.

 

[Battlespace]

Friend of mine was going through a mailbox every couple of weeks. He went to a stainless steel tank fabrication company and had them weld him up a stainless steel mailbox, made from about 3/8 or 1/2 inch thick plate. They then welded the box to a stainless steel post they had made out of some hollow stock about 6 inches square. He then set it in a 16 inch in diameter hole 4 or 5 feet feet deep and filled with concrete. So far he has had to replace the little red flag several times, but the rest is intact and hardly shows any damage. The box is about 1/2 mile from the house so he can't constantly watch it.

 

[SKeefe]

Brick through the back window of my fiancee's car on Saturday night. We filed a police report.

Before this happened, my Dad and I got some steel angle, bent it into a V, and braced it to his mailbox post. It is parallel with the ground, and just below the dirt. When they push the mailbox over and continue to drive forward, the V will raise up into a vertical position, (hopefully puncture the oil pan), and probably snag a part of their vehicle so it will be dragged.

 

[kayak bum]

A past neighbor of mine fabricated a mail box post from a 6" piece of iron pipe; about 6' sunk below ground in concrete (we had trouble with snow plows taking out the mail boxes). One night it took a very good hit from a drunk in a speeding camaro without breaking (and may have saved the drunk by re-directing him a bit); I don't think a truck would be able to push that kind of set up over, but it is still a legit, if over-engineered, mailbox.

 

[HankB]

Years ago, one of my uncle's neighbors had a mailbox getting run over every week. Cops didn't even bother coming out to look, even when he heard the crash and called them right away, since the perps were gone.

So the guy got a big pipe, filled it with concrete, and sank it deep. Hid the pipe with ivy. The very next week, there was a crash, and a car with four drunken doped up teens was sort of wrapped around it.

The guy called 911 and said words to the effect of "Emergency! A car just ran into my mailbox! Send the cops out right away!"

The cops didn't respond, but a while later, a patrolling squad saw this, checked it out (marijuana smoke supposely poured out when he got the door open) and called an ambulance.

They tried to give the guy a hard time about not calling for help, but the 911 tapes proved he DID call, and even used the word "Emergency!" in the call. It's not HIS fault the cops were too busy at Dunkin' Donuts to respond.

 

[R.H. Lee]

Do you live in a liberal hellhole of a neighborhood? Do you/did you have Bush/Cheney stickers on your vehicle?