$500 reward offered for Oaks mail box vandals

By Peggy Kelly Santa Paula TimesJoyce and Perry Schreffler have had it up to here with vandals and are offering a $500 reward for those who have been bashing mailboxes in the Oaks area of the city.“I’m so darn sick and tired of these people,” said Joyce, after the second incident of mailbox vandalism.The vandals struck at a rental home owned by the Schrefflers in the Oaks area and left the post “very wobbly. ..we replaced it and the first night it was out there they came by and bashed it.”Commander Mark Hanson of the Santa Paula Police Department said such vandalism “comes in cycles; normally it’s very hard to prove unless you have an eyewitness, and sometimes money will motivate a witness. We would appreciate the public’s cooperation in this matter and any matter of vandalism. . .we’d take great pleasure in prosecuting these individuals to the fullest extent of the law.”Schreffler said she has heard that mailbox vandalism has been on the rise: “I guess someone has nothing better to do then take a baseball bat and as they drive by bash,” others’ property. “We’re willing to offer a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of those who have done this. . .I don’t know how else to stop them.”The Oaks clings to its rural character which means no street lights, making it a tempting destination for vandals. “I guess the vandals get their funzies doing that. . .it shows they have no regard or respect for anything. If somebody did that to their place they’d be incensed. . .you want your home to look halfway decent.”