Mailbox Vandalism Riles Residents

Dozens of times, Gloria Schafer has breezed out of her Cowan Heights home in search of the morning mail, only to find her curbside mailbox bent and battered.

After replacing three disfigured metal bins, Schafer and her husband now remove their mailbox after the Saturday letters arrive and replace it Monday morning.

“The whole block has been hit. My neighbor bought a new mailbox a month ago, and it already has a big dent in it,” said Schafer. “We are all disgusted by it.”

Mailbox vandalism has long been a problem in Orange County communities with curbside boxes. But investigators say the late-night drive-by attacks by vandals armed with baseball bats and fireworks have stepped up during summer months when many schools are closed and fireworks are easily available.

Rosemary Fernandez, the Santa Ana postmaster, herself became a victim earlier this year when someone pummeled the mailbox in front of her house.

Such attacks are nothing new, but officials are expressing concern about the use of explosives both in private mailboxes and blue postal collection bins.

“It can be quite a danger,” said Sgt. Charles Stumph of the Orange County Sheriff Department’s bomb squad. “Depending on the kind of explosive, metal fragments from the box can come out at the velocity of a bullet coming out of a gun.”

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Officials said it’s difficult to determine how many boxes are vandalized because many homeowners do not report the damage. However, police estimate that several dozen mailboxes in Orange County are damaged or destroyed by explosive devises each year, including a pipe bomb explosion last year in Seal Beach that blew apart a blue collection box.

The U.S. Postal Service recorded 125 acts of mailbox vandalism last year throughout Southern California.

“We try to recover what we can,” said postal service spokesman Richard Maher. “You have bills in there that we want to get back to people. But sometimes, all there is left are ashes.”

Schafer’s North Tustin neighborhood experienced a string of private mailbox explosions last year, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The attacks slowed considerably after two juveniles and two adults were arrested in connection with incidents, said Lt. Tom Garner. Their cases are pending.

Homes with curbside mailboxes are most susceptible to vandalism because teens can quickly bash them or plant explosive devises while driving by.

Curbside boxes are common in Orange County communities such as Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills.

In those cities, many homes were built after 1970, when the postal service halted door-to-door service for new homes and required that future developments use either street boxes or community mail drops.

Vandalizing mailboxes is a federal offense punishable by up to three years in prison or a $1,000 fine. But catching the culprits can be difficult because they often strike late at night.

“They just go by in their cars and bang,” Schafer said.

Attacks with bats, tire irons, wood studs and other weapons have been a problem in Cowan Heights for more than a decade. Schafer said her house is occasionally hit more than once a month.

Authorities report few injuries but said a clear danger exists, especially when explosives are involved.