Four Dunnellon men who went on a mailbox-smashing rampage and then posted a video of the destruction on social media found themselves behind bars recently.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies responded to a Dunnellon home on Tuesday, July 9 and spoke with a woman who said she was sitting on her porch when she heard a loud bang and people yelling at the end of her driveway. She said she went to investigate and discovered that her mailbox and several others had been damaged or vandalized. And she reported hearing more loud bangs, yelling and what sounded like a truck driving away.
A short time later while deputies were patrolling the area, another deputy reported that her young daughter had seen a video post on social media showing the four men – Chase Nicholas Evans, 19; Heath Joseph Ritchie, 19; Adam Tyler White, 19 and Gregory Tyler Stein, 20 – along with a black truck, the destruction and a current location in the city limits of Dunnellon, a sheriff’s office report states.
Deputies then scrambled to the Dunnellon Plaza, located in the 11200 block of N Williams Street, and located the four men and a juvenile involved in the incident, as well as a crowd of teenagers surrounding a black F-150 Ford truck. The juvenile driver of the truck told deputies that Evans, Ritchie, White and Stein were passengers in his vehicle, the report says.
All four of the men and the juvenile then confessed to driving around the neighborhood and hitting 15-30 mailboxes on 10 different roads. They said they used a baseball bat and a pipe, which were located in the back of the truck, the report says.
The men were taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, while the juvenile was placed in a Work in Lieu of Arrest program. After being booked into the facility, Evans told deputies that the group also had damaged and vandalized other mailboxes the previous night as well, the report says.
Evans, who lives at 6260 SW 202nd Ct., was charged with damaging property/criminal mischief ($200 and under) and possession of marijuana not more than 20 grams. He was released on $1,000 bond and re-arrested again this past Sunday morning on 10 counts of damaging property/criminal mischief ($200 and under). He was released that afternoon on $5,000 bond and no future court date has been set.
Ritchie and White, who both live at 9262 SW 202nd Avenue Rd., also were charged with 10 counts of damaging property/criminal mischief ($200 and under). They were released this past Sunday on $5,000 bond apiece.
Stein, who lives at 23540 SW Marine Blvd., was charged with four counts of damaging property/criminal mischief ($200 and under) and released Monday morning on $2,000 bond.
Sheriff’s officials revealed Tuesday on the agency’s Facebook page that the Postal Service reported approximately 100 other damaged mailboxes in the area and would be following up with further information.