Louisiana Man Didn't Know It Was Illegal to Bash Mailboxes

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on April 27, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Deputies in Metairie, Louisiana caught up with a local mailbox basher on Sunday after he spent his weekend destroying the city's letter receptacles.

Resident Matthew Burghardt is accused of mowing down ten mailboxes with his pick-up truck, including his neighbor's -- twice. When asked about his hatred for the curbside collectors, he told deputies that he didn't know destroying them was illegal.

No, folks. We are not making this up.

That very neighbor called police on Saturday after seeing Burghardt's red and black Dodge Ram -- for the second time -- knock over her mailbox, reports The Times-Picayune. While the deputy was at the home, a resident living a block down walked over and said someone had damaged her mailbox, too!

At the same times, just five miles away, a second deputy was having a very similar conversation. Another group of residents reported having seen the exact same truck do the exact same thing. They, too, were left to mourn their mailboxes.

Lest you think this was a one-day event, think again. Matthew Burghardt has a beef with mailboxes. Or at least an unhealthy obsession with turning video games into real life. On Sunday, he bashed another mailbox, according to the Times. Luckily, a nearby witness was able to follow him until deputies arrived.

Matthew Burghardt has since been criminally charged with property damage and hit-and-run driving. But why he took his anger out on the poor mailboxes is still a mystery. And why he didn't know it was illegal to run them over? Well, that's the biggest mystery of all.

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