Someone went on a mailbox-smashing spree along a rural Johnson County road over the weekend, leaving as many as 15 mailboxes damaged or destroyed, letters and packages scattered in ditches and residents trying to piece their mailboxes back together.
In one case, a mailbox was snapped off at ground level, carried a couple of miles down the road and thrown over a fence, where Ashley Lane discovered it along with its scattered contents.
Mail and packages were strewn through the ditch, she told Cowboy State Daily, adding that it looked like they'd been shot.
"There were several holes in both," Lane said.
Rather than leave the mess where she found it, Lane gathered up the broken pieces.
"We returned the mail and box to the home and left it on his porch since he wasn't there," she said.
Lane called the Johnson County Sheriff's Office to report what she'd found, only to learn deputies were already investigating.
Mailboxes Take A Beating
The sheriff's office announced Monday that a group of young adults had been contacted by law enforcement in connection with mailbox vandalism along Trabing Road.
"Good citizens of Johnson County," the sheriff's office began, reporting that young adults had been smashing mailboxes through the night.
Deputies urged anyone whose mailbox was damaged to contact the department.
Trabing Road is a 15.5-mile rural road south of Buffalo, running through the open countryside between Interstate 25 and Wyoming Highway 196, also known as Old Highway 87.
Myrna Bybee said an entire row of mailboxes at the corner of Bethel Road and Highway 87 was damaged.
Her son went out the next morning and tried to straighten the boxes and repair their doors so residents could continue receiving mail.
Deputy Kerry Welch told Cowboy State Daily that 10 to 15 mailboxes were damaged or destroyed.
He, too, observed mail scattered around the area. Welch ruled out gunfire, telling Cowboy State Daily the holes he examined were not caused by bullets.
Exactly how the mailboxes were destroyed remains unclear.
The Sheriff's Office has not announced any arrests or charges in connection with the vandalism. Welch said the investigation remains ongoing.
A Federal Offense
What might seem like a prank involving a few mailboxes could carry serious criminal consequences.
Federal law is clear when it comes to mailbox vandalism. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1705, willfully or maliciously injuring, tearing down or destroying a mailbox or other receptacle used for mail delivery — or damaging mail deposited inside it — is a federal crime punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine or both.
And Wyoming law also allows for substantial penalties, depending on the amount of damage.
Under Wyoming Statute 6-3-201, knowingly damaging or destroying another person's property without permission is a misdemeanor when the cost of repairs or replacement is less than $1,000.
That offense carries up to six months in jail, a $750 fine or both.
When the damage reaches $1,000 or more, however, the offense becomes a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.
The law also allows prosecutors to combine the value of property damaged during a single continuing course of conduct.
That means multiple damaged mailboxes could potentially be counted together when determining whether the vandalism meets the felony threshold.
Authorities have not released a dollar estimate of the damage, and no charges have been confirmed in the Johnson County investigation.
For now, investigators are still trying to establish the full extent of the damage.
The sheriff's office is asking residents along Trabing Road who discovered smashed, broken or otherwise damaged mailboxes to come forward.
Anyone with information or property damage to report is asked to contact Welch at the Johnson County Sheriff's Office at 307-684-5581.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
