Mailbox, Mini Cooper, fireworks a bad combo

YAKIMA -- A destroyed mailbox, a Mini Cooper on fire, two teenagers from Wapato and a trip to Walmart to purchase a blender for mom were all part of a "fireworks incident" on Wednesday night.

It took a while to sort out, but Yakima County sheriff's deputies worked their way through the smoke to decide that the two boys had earned misdemeanor citations for malicious mischief.

Chief of Detectives Stew Graham -- who spends more of his time supervising homicide and rape investigations -- gave the following account of the incident on Thursday:

About 11:30 p.m., a resident in the 800 block of Campbell Road called the sheriff's office to report that occupants of a red Mini Cooper had just placed fireworks in his mailbox, causing it to blow up.

Wanting to make sure that deputies stayed on the smoking-hot case, the resident expressed a strong suspicion that the Mini Cooper involved in the mailbox attack was the same Mini Cooper that was burning to the ground a mile down Campbell Road.

Firefighters said they found the vehicle fully involved in flames, but the two boys were fine. Deputies took that opportunity to interview them.

The boys vehemently denied any responsibility for the deadly assault on the innocent mailbox.

Instead, they explained that they were on the way to Walmart to buy a blender for one of their mothers. Deputies found this hard to believe, given that the boys appeared to be headed away from the Walmart stores in Yakima.

Furthermore, one of the boys explained that it was actually impossible to blow up a mailbox using the artillery shell fireworks that the boys admitted having in the Mini Cooper. He said he knew this because he had unsuccessfully tried -- in the past -- to blow up a mailbox with them.

Beyond that, the boys suggested that red Mini Coopers are more popular in Yakima County than the average deputy might believe, creating the possibility that somebody else driving one of the distinctive vehicles was responsible for the mailbox-related violence.

That brings us to the blazing red Mini Cooper.

The boys said the seat heaters had malfunctioned.

Why would the boys be using seat heaters in the middle of the summer? Graham acknowledged that was a "good question."

The two friends -- ages 17 and 18 -- were released. They were expected to receive citations for second-degree malicious mischief.

There was no immediate word on whether they found their way to Walmart to buy the blender.

* Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.