HATLEY -- The Fisher family prefers not to think of themselves as vigilantes, even after a middle-of-the-night stakeout led to a high-speed chase and the blocking in of a vehicle until police arrived.
After seeing their mailbox smashed four times in less than two weeks and a seventh time in less than a year, they see their actions as justice.
While repairing the mailbox again on Saturday, Greg Fisher suspected that it might again be targeted. Fisher, 49, and his son Dustin, 18, took watch at 2 a.m. Sunday, and their diligence was rewarded less than an hour later when a truck drove past three times. The final time, a man took a baseball bat to the mailbox.
"It was frustrating watching someone smash your property," said Greg, who was in the house when the mailbox was smashed.
Dustin, who was waiting in a car in the driveway, followed the truck for more than eight miles through Hatley and onto Highway 29. As the truck reached speeds of nearly 100 mph, Dustin slowed down after getting a partial license plate number, he said.
A Marathon County sheriff's deputy, however, could not find the vehicle in Department of Transportation records using the partial number.
The Fishers said they have spent countless nights worried about smashed mailboxes and several Hatley businesses, including two the Fishers own, that recently were hit with paint balls. They weren't going to give up easily.
"We only did this because we felt very violated and targeted by whoever was doing it," said Greg's wife, Kim, 47.
While Kim and Dustin drove through Hatley hours later asking acquaintances about the truck, it drove past them and parked in the BP gas station. The two parked behind it and blocked it from leaving.
The Sheriff's Department again was called, and ultimately three 16-year-olds were referred on juvenile charges and a 19-year-old was referred to the district attorney's office on a charge of criminal damage to property, according to a police report. Neither the driver of the truck or Dustin was cited for speeding.
Marathon County sheriff's Lt. Randy Albert said the Fishers should have called police with the complete license plate number and vehicle description to avoid a potential confrontation.
"This one ended peacefully, but taking the law into your own hands can have tragic results, as well," Albert said.
Original here
No comments:
Post a Comment