Vandals blow up more rural mailboxes in three-county spree

Ran on Friday, July 13, 2007

Vandals blow up more rural mailboxes in three-county spree
By Leader-telegram Staff

MENOMONIE — A recent mailbox destruction spree continued with two more mailboxes reported blown up in Dunn County shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday.
The mailboxes were destroyed in the town of Red Cedar on Highway E, east of Menomonie.
Exploded CO2 cartridges were found in the area by a Dunn County Sheriff's Department deputy investigating the incident, according to department reports. The cartridges contain pressurized gas.
According to Lt. Mike Tietz, an actual explosive device was used in the latest mailbox vandalism.
Eight to 10 mailboxes were destroyed in Dunn County late Monday night or early Tuesday, most of them on Highway 64 from the Chippewa County line west to Highway 25 and south to Wheeler. Other mailboxes were damaged in Chippewa and Eau Claire counties.
Donna Doering, who lives on Shellamie Drive in the town Washington just south of Eau Claire, discovered her metal mailbox exploded in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
She noticed charred pieces of debris on the ground. "Something exploded," Doering said. "Not sure what though."
She said she thinks she was a target because her rural home is far off the road and her family wouldn't hear the explosion.
Most of the damage earlier in the week appeared to have been done by large bottle rockets or some other type of firework.
In some cases small grass fires occurred around the mailboxes.
One firework was found unexploded in a mailbox Tuesday.
"These kinds of incidents typically increase around the Fourth of July holiday," Tietz said. "But actual explosive fabrication as in the most recent incident is more troubling in that the danger is significantly increased when those responsible move from general fireworks to building explosives."
According to Dunn County Sheriff's Department reports, a dark-colored truck with an unknown man was seen stopped by a mailbox Tuesday on 370th Avenue in rural Eau Claire County. The man put blue electrical tape on the mailbox.
A sheriff's officer found an orange firework in the mailbox that had not been lit. It is believed the suspect was scared off before lighting the firework.
The incidents remain under investigation.
Anyone with information about the identity of those responsible or who has seen suspicious activity is urged to contact their local sheriff's department. Call the Dunn County confidential tipster line at (715) 231-2907.