Several mailboxes along Charlie Ellis Road and MS 442 in the Stephenville and Spring Hill communities were targets of vandals over the weekend. Homeowners in those areas reported a rash of damaged mail receptacles that were apparently damaged late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Most were left mangled by the blunt force of an unknown object, others that were less secure were torn from their posts.
Charlie Ellis Road resident Ladell Jackson said he does not know who could have committed the crime or why only a select group of mailboxes were targeted, however it appears deliberate and malicious. The homeowner said local farmers have assured him that it was not their equipment that caused the damage.
The culprits were apparently either travelling east on MS 442 then turning south onto Charlie Ellis Road or they crossed over the line into the opposing lane because all of the damage appeared to be concentrated to mailboxes on the south side of MS 442 and the west side of Charlie Ellis.
A 68-year-old MS 442 woman called the Sunflower County Sheriff's Department out to investigate, however Sheriff James Haywood said that he will be notifying the U.S. Postal Service because mailbox vandalism is a federal offense.
“Many people don’t know that, but it is,” Haywood said.
According to information gathered from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service website, mailboxes are considered federal property, which makes it a crime to vandalize them or otherwise damage, mar or destroy any mail that is deposited in them. Violators can be fined up to $250,000, or put in jail for up to three years for each act of vandalism.
The postal inspectors recommend that citizens immediately report theft, tampering, or destruction of mail or mailboxes to their postmaster or call the national office at 1-877-876-2455 (press 5), to protect your mailbox and any mail that may be inside of it.
The Postal Inspection Service also will supply a sticker/label that can be placed on your mailbox to warn violators that willfully damaging mailboxes and theft of mail are crimes.
