TELLER COUNTY — The Teller County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a Thursday night explosion that destroyed a mailbox south of Florissant.
Deputies say at 5:43 p.m. they responded to a report of an explosion in a mail parcel box at the intersection of County Road 11 and High Chateau Road.
Officials say they found a unit of four mailboxes destroyed. The boxes are used to contain oversized packages.
Investigators don’t believe the explosion is connected to a package delivery.
The Metro Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) is assisting detectives with the TCSO's ongoing investigations, and United States Postal Inspectors have been made aware of the event, according to law enforcement.
According to officials, there is no danger to the community, but people are asked to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the sheriff’s office.
One neighbor told News5 that she and her family heard a loud bang on Thursday evening. She lives a couple football fields away from the mail boxes.
The neighbor said the sound was different, she did not recognize it as a gunshot, and that she was confused about what it could be. She told News5 that her son was a little nervous checking the mailbox this morning.
Other neighbors in the area also heard the explosion. The bank of mailboxes are located at the end of Delsa Brown and her husband Todd Brown's driveway.
Delsa Brown said the explosion was so loud they thought all of the mailboxes exploded. Four mailboxes were damaged. The boxes are meant for larger packages. The top and doors were blown off.
“In all the years we have been here, this is the first time something like this has happened,” Delsa Brown said.
The Browns have lived in the area for the past 30 years.
“It was so loud it sounded like a propane tank blowing up,” Delsa Brown said.
A loud sound surprised the Brown’s on Thursday night.
“We were both sitting watching TV and then there was a loud boom,” Todd Brown said.
The couple wasn’t sure what exactly the sound was.
“It just so happens I am building a garage so I thought maybe a wall fell over yesterday,” Todd Brown said.
He grabbed his spotlight to go check it out.
“I was looking all over and did not see anything, we did not know anything until the police came,” Todd Brown said.
Lt. Wes Walter with the Teller County Sheriff’s Office said they got a call about an explosion around 5 p.m.Thursday.
“It was a bank of mailboxes, you see them all through Colorado," said Lt. Walter. "it was the oversized packages, for Amazon or something too big to put in a person's mailbox, and that was destroyed.”
Walter said some neighbors as far as a quarter of a mile away heard a loud boom, and pieces of the mailbox were found 20 feet away in a nearby field.
“If you have ever been to an explosion, that's what it looked like, pieces everywhere,” Lt. Walter said.
The Brown’s said this is unusual but they are not concerned about their safety.
“I am just hoping it is kids pranking,” Delsa Brown said.
Investigators said they are treating this as seriously as possible.
“This was not your high school kids putting an M-80 in a mailbox, this was a much larger device,” Delsa Brown said.
Lt. Walter said handling explosive devices is extremely dangerous.
“Whether you believe this is kids doing something or someone testing a device to use for means later, when that person drove away, someone else could have pulled up there, and if they did, they could have been seriously injured or killed,” Delsa Brown said.
Investigators are examining pieces of the mail box in order to find out what type of explosives were used. They are encouraging people to call them if they know anything about this case, or see anything suspicious around mailboxes.
Lt. Walter said whoever is responsible for damaging this mailbox could be charged with state and federal felonies.
The US Postal Inspection Service is working with the Teller County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the explosion. One U.S. Postal Inspector said:
Mail is the top priority for the Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service. Damaging a mailbox with an explosive is not only a federal crime but puts our mail carriers and postal customers at risk for serious harm. This will not be tolerated.
The safety of employees and the security of the U.S. Mail are the top priorities for the Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service.
USPS customers can take several steps to protect their mail and their letter carriers:
- Call 911 to report any suspicious activity such as someone following your mail carrier or lurking near your mailbox.
- Become involved and engaged in your neighborhood via neighborhood watches and local social media groups to spread awareness and share information.
- Don’t let incoming or outgoing mail sit in your mailbox. Remove your mail from your mailbox every day.
- Sign up for Informed Delivery and get daily digest emails to preview your mail and packages scheduled to arrive.
- Deposit outgoing mail through a number of secure manners, including inside your local Post Office, at your place of business, or by handing it directly to a letter carrier.
The US Postal Inspection Service said if the public has any information about this crime, please contact USPIS at (877)876-2455.
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