The Charles County Sheriff’s Office recently arrested five teenagers for destroying mailboxes and writing racially-offensive remarks on March 9.
On March 9th at 10:30 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office received a call from a citizen who said he observed several people damage a mailbox in the 17000 block of Creekside Drive in Brandywine. The citizen saw a vehicle flee the scene and followed it until it turned down Scout Camp Road (a dead end). He quickly erected a barricade of rope and a wooden “No Trespassing” sign and called the police.
When officers arrived, they found the vehicle behind the barricade. In it sat three teens, who were then identified and arrested. The teens had destroyed additional mailboxes in neighborhoods off Woodville Road that night; so they were charged with multiple counts of malicious destruction of property, then released to their parents. Two of the teens are 17 yrs old, the other is 15; all are male. Officer G. Barnhart investigated.
On March 10 at 8:15 a.m., officers responded to a residence in the 4400 block of Clayton Court in Waldorf for the report of a hate crime. The victim told investigating officer S. Hawkins that he was leaving home when he discovered that his mailbox had been damaged. He also found swastikas, a reference to Hitler, a racially offensive phrase and other inappropriate phrases drawn in black marker on a neighbor’s mailbox.
Officer Hawkins discovered a possible link between his case and Officer Barnhart’s from the night before. When Officer Barnhart arrested the three boys for the incident on Creekside Lane, he noticed books about the Third Reich in the back seat of their vehicle. But since the Creekside incidents didn’t involve hate graffiti, the books were not taken into evidence at that time. Officer Hawkins went to speak with the registered owner of the vehicle (father of one of the 17 yr olds) and found not only the books Officer Barnhart saw, but also a black marker in the car.
Officer Hawkins then charged that 17-year-old with a hate crime and an additional count of destruction of property valued at less than $500. He was charged as a juvenile and released back to his father. Officer Hawkins discovered that the boy’s two accomplices in the Creekside Drive incident and two additional 17-year-ol
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