Help Me Settle A Dispute!!

[cabinetman]

This all started off when the a$$ next door was a juvenile delinquent. Well now he's an adult a$$. It began with pranks that caused night time annoyance, and damage to my property and my time and money to correct them.

I go out this morning to get the paper and see that my mailbox is destroyed by what appears to be a baseball bat indenture. This is the third mailbox. Fortunately the post remained undamaged as I made that fairly substantial (he would have to run it over, and that might be next).

Anyway, we had a period of almost a year of glee while he was in juvie jail for robbing a neighbor's house. Two weeks ago, another neighbor was robbed, and the cops are watchin' him.

What I want to do is settle it my way. I'm not one to stand out in the street and go back and forth yelling "Oh yeah's". I just jump in. Maybe I should ask him to take a walk with me to some desolate location and settle it like two irrational men. I'm really at that point, especially after his touting with "Yo Army". I'm also thinkin' I don't want a vacation at the Graybar Hotel.

Since I didn't see him whack the mailbox, not much good a police report will do. So, I'm in a state of limbo and need some suggestions.
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[eccentrictinkerer]

I helped a friend with a similar problem several years ago. He was pretty sure that a neighbor kid was tagging his garage with graffiti.

I put a video recorder in his parked van with a video camera covered with a cardboard carton with a peep hole for the camera.

Gary painted over the latest artwork and put a 6 hour video tape in and started at about 9 PM.

Got the kid the first night.

Gary took the video tape over to the neighbor's house and told them that he wanted them to stop there kid's night-time activities. They were a-holes who denied their sweet child could ever do anything.

Gary plopped the video tape in an convinced them.

He then said that if he EVER got tagged again, by ANYBODY, he'd take the tape to the police. Evidently the kid told his miscreant buddies that Gary's garage was off-limits, because he has never been tagged again.

[final_t]

If you haven't already, file a vandalism report with the police.
Then I would get some night-time security cameras installed, with logging either to a slow 24 hour tape, or to your computer. These can be had for all kinds of price & feature points from WalMart, Radio Shack, Microcenter, NewEgg, Amazon, etc.
I would also seriously consider getting a home security system - next robbery could be yours.

[annunaki]

Mail

If you catch him on tape, besides the local State Charges, you might want to check with the Postal Authorities to see if he could be charged with a Federal charge (mail tampering), as well. The Feds don't plea bargain as easily.

[Bruce Cohen]

Hey Cab,

Give me his address, and I'll handle it.

I have a ton of experience in that area.

Bruce

[footprintsinconc]

I was going to suggest what eccentrickinkerer suggested with the video tape. first confirm it is him, and then either go to the police or soemthing else.

but first you have need proof so there are no doubts and no one can dispute with you.

[cabinetman]

Hey Cab,

Give me his address, and I'll handle it.

I have a ton of experience in that area.

Bruce

Thanks for the offer, really, but so do I, and this is probably too small of a sp op for ya. Besides, I might like pleasure if it got to that.
.

[smorris]

The camera is a good idea and they are pretty cheap these days.

Now, if you just want to have some fun...Expansion foam, aquarium tubing and his exhaust system. It'll take them forever to figure out what is wrong then how to remove all the foam.

[Uncle Cracker]

Word of caution here... I'm as much in favor or "your way" as anybody (been there, done that), but just let me point out that if you take matters into your own hands, you may end up worse off than he does. Assault carries a much stiffer penalty than vandalism, and in this day and age, the courts cannot be trusted to sympathize with you. Not worth it. Get video evidence, and turn it over to police and postal authorities.
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(Now, when is the hit???)

[LinuxRandal]

You have some good idea's here, and there are a lot more out on the net that could be found, without leaving a trace here.

As for the mailbox, buy two. Get one of the much larger size, place the small one in it, minus door, and fill the space between with concrete.

[Crash2510]

since probably everyone knows your a woodworker build yourself a nice fancy wooden mailbox maybe one that looks like a log home(don't waste too much time, but still make it irresistable as a driveby target) Inside this malebox a 1/4 to 1/2" steel box would help make it extra sturdy

then install set up a single camera watch and wait it should happen quickly

if they do it from a vehicle he may have a broken arm you'll have some laughs and some evidence (everybody goes home happy, well almost)

[maxparot]

Explosive paint squibs like the ones used by banks could be fun to set up in a mailbox. If it is tampered with at night it sprays dye in all directions which could easily be used to track down the culprits. Not to mention them looking like a member of Blue man crew.

[leehljp]

What Crash and MaxParot said. Be prepared with cameras and with blue dye.

After that, Be sure to have visible security lights and night cameras permanently installed due to buddies or family wanting retribution.

[Mr__Bill]

Hmmm. So FL, seems you are in the right place for a directed third party participant. Just place his name, address and phone number on a few washroom walls with a quote of derogatory terms he may have used against certain ethnic or place of origin individuals. Then sit back and wait for a few of them to pay a visit.