When Joe’s mailbox was bashed in for the third time last Saturday night, it was really a total loss. The mail he had left inside while he was out for the evening was soggy and muddy. Joe was furious and vowed to retaliate against those kids. He suspected that they were drinking, driving a dad’s car and having a little batting practice.
He called up some of the dads whose kids were friends of his son. He told them, of course, that he knew their sons were not the vandals. He explained that he was installing security cameras on his property and asked them to tell their sons to spread the word at the local high school.
Then, he sat his own son down and told him what would happen to him if he ever vandalized mailboxes. First, he told the boy that mailbox tampering of any kind was a Federal crime. Joe went on to paint the picture of his life after mailbox bashing. He would need a court appointed lawyer because his parents would not finance legal defense. He would be incarcerated, convicted, spend time in jail and have to pay restitution for all the vandalism in which he had a part. So, he would not be able to go to college and he would have to get a job on the bus line to pay the damages since he would have lost his car.
Mailbox bashing leaves victims with emotional and financial repercussions.
