Last week we received a call at the Tate Record from a subscriber who was frustrated about her mailbox being beaten by what she assumed was a baseball bat. She along with six of her neighbors on Crockett Road in Bar on the eastern side of Tate County, awakened to find all of their mailboxes damaged. She was angry and upset because she felt nothing would be done after calling the Tate County Sheriff’s Department.
As the week progressed social media posts began appearing and residents from all over Tate County began sharing pictures of destroyed mailboxes. From Bett Road to Bluegoose Road, from Looxahoma-Tyro to Rader Creek, Tate Countians are being victimized by senseless mischief and will have to pay to replace their damaged mailboxes. As our country, state and county are coming out of the financial hardships caused by the effects of COVID-19, this extra cost is hitting some residents very hard and making them understandably angry.
We’ve all seen movies and we can all remember back to our youth when we’d hear of mailboxes being hit with baseball bats by bored teenagers in old pickup trucks. It’s just something that has always been around. But it needs to stop.
The good people of Tate County shouldn’t have to put up with the senseless and costly mayhem caused by people simply up to no good.
Sheriff Brad Lance and his department have taken the reports and a misdemeanor charge of malicious mischief is awaiting the perpetrator(s).
There is more that can be done, however.
According to the United States Postal Inspection Service, mailboxes and the mail inside are protected by federal law. Crimes against mailboxes are investigated by Postal Inspectors. Once found, individuals convicted of destruction of federal property could face up to three years in jail and fined up to $250,000.
To report an act of mailbox vandalism, call 877-876-2455 or go online at www.uspis.gov/report.
It’s time to ban together and stop the person or persons responsible for these stupid, pointless acts of vandalism. If you see someone in the act of destroying a mailbox call and report it. Tate County Crime Stoppers can be reached at 662-301-1111.
