Anyone ever had their mailbox stolen??

[joedancer]

After trying unsuccessfully to smash it over the thanksgiving weekend, I came home on Wednesday to find it gone. It is on a stand with other mailboxes but only mine was gone. Very curious...

If anyone tries to sell you a used mailbox, let me know...

Yes, I did report it to the police.

 

[Kain99]

I'm sorry Joe.... Sounds like kids. Rig the next one with electricity.

 

[911Carrera]

After trying unsuccessfully to smash it over the thanksgiving weekend, I came home on Wednesday to find it gone. It is on a stand with other mailboxes but only mine was gone. Very curious...

If anyone tries to sell you a used mailbox, let me know...

Yes, I did report it to the police.

I think it's a sport in Southern Maryland to hit mail boxes with baseball bats! It's probably high school kids out having some fun.

I bought one of those heavy duty plastic mailboxes at Lowe's for about $50.00. It works great.

My mailbox has been hit about three times in two years. I'll find it off the matching plastic post, laying on the ground.

This mailbox has a GREAT feature. It's held to the mailbox post with four plastic fastners you can get a Lowe's or any auto parts store. These fastners cost about $.15 each, CHEAP.

The kids hit my mailbox, it breaks away clean, I pick it up and replace the fastners and put it right back up.

This hard plastic also retains it's shape. It doesn't dent. If it was metal it would be severely bent from the impact.

This whole thing pisses me off but I still have to live with it and if I don't put my mailbox back up I don't get any mail.

Good Luck with your new mailbox!

 

[joedancer]

I'm sorry Joe.... Sounds like kids. Rig the next one with electricity.

Thanks Kain,
There was a piece of evidence left and the cop was able to get fingerprints off it, not that it will help if it was just a kid, but who knows!

Joe

 

[huntr1]

After trying unsuccessfully to smash it over the thanksgiving weekend, I came home on Wednesday to find it gone. It is on a stand with other mailboxes but only mine was gone. Very curious...

If anyone tries to sell you a used mailbox, let me know...

Yes, I did report it to the police.

That's what you get for having this mailbox.


We bought a super heavy duty steel one. It's made out of 3/32" thick steel. The advertisement had a car parked with one wheel up on the box without denting it. I think that if some punk hits it with a bat, they are gonna get hit in the head when it bounces off.

 

[joedancer]

That's what you get for having this mailbox.


We bought a super heavy duty steel one. It's made out of 3/32" thick steel. The advertisement had a car parked with one wheel up on the box without denting it. I think that if some punk hits it with a bat, they are gonna get hit in the head when it bounces off.

We did have the 3/32 steel mailbox! That couldn't dent it so they stole it!

Joe

 

[Magnum]

We did have the 3/32 steel mailbox! That couldn't dent it so they stole it!

Joe

I think a few years back a kid got hurt playing mailbox baseball and wound up putting a lawsuit on the owner of the heavy steel box.

 

[bresamil]

I think it's a sport in Southern Maryland to hit mail boxes with baseball bats! It's probably high school kids out having some fun.

I bought one of those heavy duty plastic mailboxes at Lowe's for about $50.00. It works great.

My mailbox has been hit about three times in two years. I'll find it off the matching plastic post, laying on the ground.

This mailbox has a GREAT feature. It's held to the mailbox post with four plastic fastners you can get a Lowe's or any auto parts store. These fastners cost about $.15 each, CHEAP.

The kids hit my mailbox, it breaks away clean, I pick it up and replace the fastners and put it right back up.

This hard plastic also retains it's shape. It doesn't dent. If it was metal it would be severely bent from the impact.

This whole thing pisses me off but I still have to live with it and if I don't put my mailbox back up I don't get any mail.

Good Luck with your new mailbox!

You are way too benevolent. Once we made a concrete mailbox that fit inside of our large steel mailbox. - This was after several bashings. We lived on Mechanicsville Road at the time and that's where the mailbox was, right beside the road. It was an easy target for the driveby, baseball bat crowd. The next time they tried it the scream woke up the family and several neighbors. The boy may have fractured his arm. We're not sure because we didn't bother to report it and no one fessed up. Nobody ever bothered the box again.

 

[Kain99]

I think a few years back a kid got hurt playing mailbox baseball and wound up putting a lawsuit on the owner of the heavy steel box.

This totally pizzes me off! Theives falling through skylights and nasty kids smashing mailboxes.... Suing and making money! Nothing is more disgusting! What has this world come to?

 

[Magnum]

Also I think, (not sure) but there were laws made about the construction of your mailbox. My friend was a welder and used to cement a steel I beam in the ground and then put 1/2" plate for his box, a car hit it a long time ago and he had to take it out.

 

[kwillia]

Also I think, (not sure) but there were laws made about the construction of your mailbox. My friend was a welder and used to cement a steel I beam in the ground and then put 1/2" plate for his box, a car hit it a long time ago and he had to take it out.

Yep. It is my understanding it has to be a "breakaway" support post.

 

[Magnum]

Yep. It is my understanding it has to be a "breakaway" support post.

Ahh see sometimes my memory works, not very often that happens usually I suffer from CRS,

 

[Tenknots]

FYI, it's a federal crime to mess with mailboxes, that's probably why they dusted for prints.


"Mailboxes are considered federal property, and federal law (Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705), makes it a crime to vandalize them (and to injure, deface or destroy any mail deposited in them). Violators can be fined up to $250,000 or imprisoned for up to three years for each act of vandalism.

You can take the following actions to help prevent the vandalizing or destruction of your mailbox and any mail that may be inside it:
Immediately report theft, tampering with, or destruction of mail and mailboxes to your local postmaster. You will be asked to complete PS Form 1510, Mail Loss and Rifling Report, or PS Form 2016, Mail Theft and Vandalism Complaint. These forms help the Postal Inspection Service determine whether your problem is isolated or one frequently experienced in your neighborhood.

Remove your mail from your mailbox as soon as possible after its delivery. Allowing mail to pile up for several days only tempts would-be vandals and thieves. If it is impossible for you to pick up your mail right after delivery, and you have been experiencing problems with mailbox vandalism or mail theft, consider renting a post office box, which will provide a secure method of delivery. You may find your peace of mind is worth the small rental fee.

Obtain Label 33 from the Postal Inspection Service. This sticker, which warns that willful damage to mail boxes and theft of mail is a crime, can be affixed to your mailbox.

If you discover someone tampering with your or your neighbor's mailbox, obtain that person's description and that of his vehicle, including the license plate number. Immediately report the information to your local police and postmaster.

Keep your mailbox in good repair by using proper installation methods. This may help prevent theft of the mailbox itself."

 

[Dymphna]

I think it's a sport in Southern Maryland to hit mail boxes with baseball bats!

don't blame it on the area. Mailbox baseball has been depicted in any number of teenage hooligan-type movies. It's pretty common in a number of places.

My grandparents lived in a very rural area and after their mailbox was destroyed several times in the 1950s they got a PO Box. When my parents moved in next door to them in 1973, they skipped right to the PO Box. They didn't get a real mailbox until the late 1980s I think they've lost 3-4 boxes over the years.

 

[911Carrera]

You are way too benevolent. Once we made a concrete mailbox that fit inside of our large steel mailbox. - This was after several bashings. We lived on Mechanicsville Road at the time and that's where the mailbox was, right beside the road. It was an easy target for the driveby, baseball bat crowd. The next time they tried it the scream woke up the family and several neighbors. The boy may have fractured his arm. We're not sure because we didn't bother to report it and no one fessed up. Nobody ever bothered the box again.

Nicely Done! You showed them.

I've just sort of accepted it here, There are many things that kids can do that are far worst than wasting a mailbox.

I was just offering a quick solution to the original person who posted on this topic. Those plastic fasteners on my mailbox are easy to replace. I was trying to be a little informative.

 

[911Carrera]

don't blame it on the area. Mailbox baseball has been depicted in any number of teenage hooligan-type movies. It's pretty common in a number of places.

My grandparents lived in a very rural area and after their mailbox was destroyed several times in the 1950s they got a PO Box. When my parents moved in next door to them in 1973, they skipped right to the PO Box. They didn't get a real mailbox until the late 1980s I think they've lost 3-4 boxes over the years.

Sorry, Dymphna.... I wasn't trying to disrespect Southern Maryland. I like living here!

It just seems like I've seen more wasted mailboxes here than any other place I've ever lived. I've lived in some other rural areas with roadside mailboxes and I've never seen this many get wasted like I have seen here.

 

[joedancer]

FYI, it's a federal crime to mess with mailboxes, that's probably why they dusted for prints.


"Mailboxes are considered federal property, and federal law (Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705), makes it a crime to vandalize them (and to injure, deface or destroy any mail deposited in them). Violators can be fined up to $250,000 or imprisoned for up to three years for each act of vandalism.

You can take the following actions to help prevent the vandalizing or destruction of your mailbox and any mail that may be inside it:
Immediately report theft, tampering with, or destruction of mail and mailboxes to your local postmaster. You will be asked to complete PS Form 1510, Mail Loss and Rifling Report, or PS Form 2016, Mail Theft and Vandalism Complaint. These forms help the Postal Inspection Service determine whether your problem is isolated or one frequently experienced in your neighborhood.

Remove your mail from your mailbox as soon as possible after its delivery. Allowing mail to pile up for several days only tempts would-be vandals and thieves. If it is impossible for you to pick up your mail right after delivery, and you have been experiencing problems with mailbox vandalism or mail theft, consider renting a post office box, which will provide a secure method of delivery. You may find your peace of mind is worth the small rental fee.

Obtain Label 33 from the Postal Inspection Service. This sticker, which warns that willful damage to mail boxes and theft of mail is a crime, can be affixed to your mailbox.

If you discover someone tampering with your or your neighbor's mailbox, obtain that person's description and that of his vehicle, including the license plate number. Immediately report the information to your local police and postmaster.

Keep your mailbox in good repair by using proper installation methods. This may help prevent theft of the mailbox itself."

Thanks so much for this info! Neither the cop nor the post office employee offered this, even though I thought it was a federal offense.