Story Archive

He Rammed What Couldn’t Dodge

A woman called the Jefferson Parish, La., Sheriff’s Office to report that her neighbor, whose vehicle she recognized because they’d lived near each other for 15 years, had driven over her mailbox. A deputy came to take a statement and heard that not only had the caller’s mailbox been run over twice in one day, but another neighbor had suffered the same indignity. And then it turned out that mailboxes five miles away had been run over by the same vehicle: a red and black Dodge Ram pickup. When stopped, Matthew Burghardt demanded a ticket, but he was arrested (and then he was released because of jail overcrowding). Burghardt’s defense, according to the arrest report: “He didn’t know it was illegal to run over mailboxes.” (AC/New Orleans Times-Picayune) ...And if they let him out because of overcrowding after sentencing, too, he may never learn that.