3 Teens Charged with MIPs After 37 Mailboxes are Damaged in Oakland Township

Two Oakland Township teenagers and one Rochester Hills teenager have been arrested and charged with minor in possession of alcohol after they admitted  uprooting and damaging mailboxes and other property in a neighborhood near Adams and Gunn roads early Friday morning, according to police reports.

All three teenagers – two 17-year-old males and a 16-year-old male – had been drinking, police said.

"(The) suspects were found to be intoxicated," read the Oakland County Sheriff's Department report. "Therefore, all three were issued citations for Under 21 by the officer in charge." The teens blew a .07, .17 and .16 in the preliminary breath test. Under the Minors in Possession law, any alcohol content is prohibited in minors, and can result in charges. 

In addition to the charges, the three teenagers and their families agreed to pay for the damage done to the mailboxes, several light fixtures and a trampoline in The Crossings of Oakland subdivision, where one of the teenagers resides, police said.

Neighbors and residents have chosen not to press charges against the juveniles, whose families have agreed to pay for all the damages, police said.

"There really wasn't anybody who wanted to press charges for the mailboxes as long as they got restitution," said Oakland County Sheriff's Deputy Terry Cashman. He added that all three teenagers were released to their parents Friday morning following preliminary breath tests and interviews.

The teenagers were arrested by deputies, who had received a call for a larceny in progress on Clear Creek Court. According to police reports, a resident called 911 after he observed "a juvenile white male lifting a pallet of new roofing supplies" in his driveway.

While deputies responded to the call, more calls began coming in about "young males running through the neighborhood and talking to each other about damaging mailboxes," according to reports. Deputies chased down one of the teenagers; the two others were inside one of the teenager's homes in the neighborhood.

All three eventually admitted to drinking, damaging the mailboxes and other private property, then returning to the house.

Most of the mailboxes had been repaired by Monday, although a handful still appeared damaged or were lying on the ground. The teenagers also are accused of damaging a trampoline and removing it from a yard near Country Crossing and Inverness.

In all, the teenagers are accused of damaging 37 mailboxes, seven landscape light fixtures, one trampoline and part of a lawn on Bold Meadows, Bradyleigh Boulevard, Sunnyside Court, Country Creek Drive, Hidaway, Woodcliff Court, Ascot Court, Deersprings Court, Deersprings Drive and South Creek Drive.

The teens, whose names are not being released because of their age, are awaiting court dates.