Residents of Wellshire Lane in Palm Coast were either woken up around 4 a.m. this morning by the knock of cops on their door, or woke up to the sight of their mailboxes smashed to the ground or knocked over.
A Flagler County Sheriff’s spokesman confirmed Saturday afternoon that one 17-year-old boy was arrested and later released to his parents after consultation with the Department of Juvenile Justice, but that another 17-year-old boy was also identified in connection with the spree, but not arrested at this time. The spokesman said the exact number of mailboxes damaged was 17, with damages estimated at $20 to $150 per box, for a total of $1,000 in damages.
Many residents on the street spent the morning repairing their own or their neighbors’ mailboxes.
“They just came through. I don’t know if they had a pole or whatever, but they knocked quite a few over,” Tyrone Williams, who’s lived at 90 Wellshire for six years, said this morning as he mowed his lawn. His mailbox was still down. “This is my third time. They ran over it once time. I had to go buy a new mailbox.”
Bob Consiglio, who lives a few doors down, was spared: his well-tended mailbox, surrounded by a flower bed, wasn’t touched. But he spent the morning fixing four or five of his neighbors’ boxes. “I felt guilty that mine didn’t get hit, I had to do something,” he said. “The kids live down the block,” he said of the alleged miscreants. “How ironic is that?”
The owner at 61 Wellshire was tending his front yard. His mailbox was too damaged to repair. He said he would get a new one. Further down, two men who asked not to be identified, saying they could face retribution otherwise, had also spent the morning repairing mailboxes–their own and neighbors’.
“I spent two hours on mine trying to get it back to standing up,” one of the men said.
“They came to my house, the police, four o’clock this morning,” the other resident said. “Ringing the doorbell, ringing the doorbell, seeing if I wanted to press charges. And I said yeah I want to press charges. So I walked down here to Bobby’s, and I saw this, and I saw Donald’s and it looked like a goddamn war zone over here.”
Residents spoke of knowing the youths who’d carried out the spree, but said there’d never been an issues before.
Jana DiNatale says
Idiots! Make them repair all the mailboxes!
Florida Native says
Where were the parents at 4 am?
pam harper says
he needs his but kicked, his parents sure didn’t do a good job teaching him to respeck other people stuff, he needs to replace each one and put them up him self, and face to face each person he destoryed their mail box,
PC Mom says
Where were the parents?? Ridiculous. Parents need to stop trying to be their kids friends and be parents!
tulip says
@FLORIDA NATIVE You asked where were the parents at 4 a.m. They were probably in bed asleep. Kids have been know to sneak out of the house late at night and the parents have no idea. I speak from experience. Many years ago while we were sleeping our 15 yr old son snuck out of the house and took the car for a ride. He was stopped in the next town because the cops noticed someone driving too slowly. We got a phone call around 3 a.m. to come get him.
I do like the suggestion that was made that these kids repair the mailboxes and apologize to the owners.
William Carter says
“Further down, two men who asked not to be identified, saying they could face retribution otherwise, had also spent the morning repairing mailboxes”
Are these kids the mafia now? What kind of town have we created if a person is afraid of retribution from teenagers?
Nancy N. says
Maybe it’s not the kids but their parents they are afraid of.
anon says
Why is it always teen boys who bash mailboxes? Wonder why it’s never a car full of girls? Just curious.
honestly says
Because girls are not as stupid as boys!
Anonymous says
Yeah, they get pregnant and boys pay child support for decades
Doesn't anyone CARE? says
Make the kids do ALL the lawns for the people they destroyed the boxes on.and fix the mail boxes.
Make them SWEAT…
Doesn’t say much about the parents of these kids..
boys says
BOYS WILL BE BOYS. AND THAT INCLUDES SMASHING MAILBOXES FOR NO DILIBERATE REASON. TEACHES THEM RIGHT FROM WRONG.
Flagler Local says
If you are a teenager, you should already know right from wrong. I am quite sure he and his buddies know right from wrong. There should be a swift and severe punishment, or else we will see these dumb asses again down the road…when they graduate to theft / breaking and entering or worse.
honestly says
They should be made to repair all of the mailboxes that they distroyed one by one accompanied by a letter of apology. When i was a child and made mistake my parents made me go directly to the person apologize and ask them if there was anything that needed to be done. Believe me there was always something that needed fixing. Fence painting, cutting the grass, picking weeds and lessons were taught oh and I got to know the neighbor better and it strengthened the relationship between neighbors.
Shocked, I tell you... says
Things have changed and not for the better. Have you noticed how many teens don’t even mow their own lawns anymore, but dad does?
Teens have become nocturnal, with parental permission. They leave the house about 10pm and don’t return until the wee hours.
We expect them to be responsible and yet in many households they are responsible for NOTHING. We don’t know how to be functioning families anymore.
Flaglerresident says
Society has created a bunch of softies over the years. I remember cutting the grass when I was 8. I know several teenagers who are not allowed to operate the lawn mower because it is “dangerous.”
All three kids should be made to work this off to each victim. This is an example of making the parents force the kids to be responsible. I know if my kids did this, even if they were being prosecuted, they would be working for 17 people for a while, free of charge!
anon says
A bunch of old grumpy ladies in here having their cup of tea reminescing about the olden days. Just a couple of kids having fun, no harm no foul.
A.S.F. says
@anon–I am sure you would feel it was “harm” and “foul” if it was YOUR property that was desecrated. What those kids did may have been “just fun” to them (of a malicious variety–could they not have found something more constructive to do to ease their boredom?)–but it must have felt like a violation to the people who were the vicitims of these kids’ definition of “fun.” How do you think those kids would feel (or how angry do you think their parents would be) if someone flattened THEIR tires, messed up THEIR cell phones or touched ANYTHING of THEIR’S? I sure hope their parents care enough about them to at least attempt to teach them better than this behavior seems to indicate. Kids make mistakes, sometimes outrageous ones. But they need to be corrected–swiftly and in a manner in proportion to the crime. Those kids should be making reparation and they will not become better people by having others make excuses for their bad behavior. Actually, that’s the WORST response I can think of!
Stupidity prevails says
No harm, no foul, anon? Seriously? Our street in Matanzas Woods was hit, again, yesterday. We have had to replace ours twice in the last few years. It is not cheap to replace the mailbox, pole, concrete, etc. not to mention the time and aggravation. No harm? Let it happen to you repeatedly and see how you feel. Something tells me you aren’t financially responsible for a household, or you wouldn’t make such ludicrous statements.