November 10, 2005

Mailbox massacre

Destructive ‘sport’ angers residents

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

For nearly a month, more than a dozen residents near T. J. Martin Park have been the repeated victims of a sport that makes midnight vandals go postal—literally.

Russ Petruzzelli not only had to deal with vandals destroying mailboxes in his neighborhood, he now faces thousands of dollars in repairs to his car, which he feels was hit in retaliation to a confrontation he had after catching them destroying his neighbor’s mailbox on Oct. 21.

It’s a not-so-nice twist on an American pastime. However, the only similarity in mailbox baseball is the bat. The playing field changes constantly and is literally in our front yards. And unlike its counterpart, bashing mailboxes is a federal offense under Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1705. Anyone caught playing this game could be dealt a $1,000 fine, up to three years in jail, or both.

According to Almaden residents on Burchell Avenue, The Strand Avenue, Meander Drive, Fleet Street, Sentinel Street, and Pfeiffer Ranch Road, at least 15 mailboxes have either been torn off their posts or completely destroyed in the past three weeks. Until last weekend, reports of mailbox vandalism were exclusive to that area, but have since spread to the Rockhaven Drive area near the Almaden Country Club.

Russ Petruzzelli remembers heading out the front door of his home on Burchell Avenue around 11:45 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21 to return a movie rental, when he heard a loud bang in his front yard and ran out in time to see a dark-colored SUV accelerate from the house across the street, leaving a smashed pumpkin and a shattered wooden mailbox in its wake.

“The vehicle accelerated 200 to 300 feet down to the end of Burchell at Meridian,” said Petruzzelli. “Then it did a U-turn and headed back toward me. I was on the sidewalk by this point and shouted at them to leave, but. I could not see into the vehicle passenger window despite being only a few feet from them. I didn’t try to stop them—I just tried to make it known that I was out there and wanted them to get the heck out of there.”

Another report later put vandals on The Strand Avenue at around 2 a.m., where one resident (who asked that his name be withheld) said the commotion woke him up, but they were gone by the time he made it to the front of the house. Two nearby neighbors also found their mailboxes in their driveways the following morning, as did Petruzzelli, who discovered that his mailbox had been vandalized as well. However in his case, the vandals took their attacks to the next level by unleashing a severed post on his car, an act he feels was retaliation for confronting them the night before.

“After breaking the window, the pole was used to bash the rear panel and the rear bumper, driving a 2-inch hole through the plastic bumper,” says Russ Petruzzelli. “Another mailbox from some other neighbor also lay in our driveway.”

It wasn’t the first incident of mailbox vandalism, nor the last. Just days after neighbors repaired or rebuilt new ones, the vandals returned the following weekend for a repeat performance, where they added 12 more mailboxes to their list of conquests.

According to Kim Petruzzelli, they were back again last weekend, this time to sign their work.

“Sometime between Saturday afternoon Nov. 5 and Monday afternoon Nov. 7, our mailbox was ‘tagged’” she said. “It looks like a gold Sharpie, and someone wrote ‘E.P.H.’ or ‘E.D.H.’ in large 3-inch letters on the side of our mailbox. They also wrote it on the side of our next door neighbor’s mailbox.”

Movie blamed for spawning nationwide problem
Mailbox vandalism has been going on for years and many in the U.S. Postal Service blame its popularity on the movie “Stand by Me.” Mailbox baseball has since become a disturbing nationwide trend, where kids head out for a late-night joyride with baseball bats and too much time on their hands. Their mission is to behead as many mailbox posts as possible without getting caught.

Mike Cannon says he’s had to replace his mailbox at least 12 times in the 30 years he has lived on The Strand Avenue and remembers the scene in the movie well.

“Right after that movie came out, we had a spurt of it here,” he said. “Whenever a movie like that comes out, there’s always a little burst of imitation. Now, every couple of years it comes up. Just recently, we’ve had a real problem with it. The box got knocked off a couple of times and this final time they hit it hard enough to break the post up.”

A few years ago, Cannon purchased a plastic mailbox designed to ease the financial burden surrounding replacement.

“We did it on purpose,” he said. “It’s an ugly white plastic mailbox and doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood, but it is destruction-proof. In the years gone by, they’ve hit the mailbox and knocked it off, but I’ve been able to reattach it.”

However Cannon feels, “it’s just a little minor vandalism and no one got hurt. And I hope the neighborhood doesn’t overreact.”

Nothing new
A recent Internet search on mailbox bashing resulted in more than 1,900 hits, including the site of an Almaden resident [name withheld] that, over the past 11 years has had to purchase and mount four replacement mailboxes. Original homeowners and others in the neighborhood say it’s been going on for at least 20 years.

“Why?” it reads. “It seems that we live in a neighborhood where there is an undeclared war on the curbside, free-standing mailboxes.”

Some neighbors have given up and now pick up their mail at the post office because they are tired of buying new boxes.

Based on statistics provided by the U.S. Postal Service, most of the 76 percent [over 35 million] rural mailboxes nationwide have been destroyed by vandalism and over 75 percent of the mail boxes sold in North America are to replace those that have been vandalized by baseball bats, water-filled balloons, M1 firecrackers, beer bottles, rocks, bricks, and in recent cases, pumpkins.

In rural areas with moderate traffic, it is not uncommon for homeowners to replace their mailbox three to five times each year.

While license plates obtained by residents were traced back to two students at Leland High School, Almaden Division Capt. Jack Farmer said they were subsequently questioned at school and no arrests have been made.

“Why they’re hitting these homes I don’t know,” Farmer said. “They’re doing something they shouldn’t be doing and they’re not being very thoughtful. They’re being destructive and causing some damage out there.”

Farmer says that catching the vandals will be difficult because they are out late at night and take off before being seen. He encourages residents to call 911 immediately if they see or hear anything suspicious. Additionally, if anyone has information regarding these or other related incidents, please call (408) 277-4631.