A reckless driver caused chaos in a Cape Coral neighborhood Thursday afternoon, speeding through Southeast 4th Terrace and slamming into a mailbox with force, sending it soaring through the air.
Around 2:30 p.m., Holly Schillinger received a text from her husband informing her that their mailbox was missing. Concerned, Schillinger checked her home’s security cameras, and what she saw left her in shock. The footage showed a Nissan Altima speeding down the street, clearly well over the speed limit, and crashing directly into the mailbox.
“I was kind of shaking, to be honest, just to realize that happened in front of my house,” Schillinger said.
The crash left the mailbox 20 feet away from where it had been, and Schillinger wasted no time in replacing it with a new one.
In the aftermath, the driver of the Nissan Altima did not stop. After destroying the mailbox, the car veered off into an empty lot and fled the scene, leaving behind a piece of the car’s bumper pad,
Schillinger contacted Cape Coral police, who responded to the scene.
“They were really surprised when they came out. At first, they thought it was just a broken mailbox. But after I showed them the video, they agreed this was a serious situation,” Schillinger said.
Under Florida law, the driver responsible could be charged with hit-and-run, a second-degree misdemeanor. The penalties for this charge include up to 60 days in prison and a fine of up to $500.
“I mean, we’ve all done dumb things when we were younger, but the important thing is to learn from those mistakes and do better next time,” Schillinger said.