A 17-year-old boy was cited for vandalism after blowing up a mailbox in Windsor with a firework on Wednesday night, Sonoma County sheriff's officials said.
Deputies responded around 9 p.m. to a call from the 9800 block of Old Camp Lane about a mailbox explosion. The caller said he heard a loud explosion and ran outside to see a white Dodge pickup truck making U-turns in the area.
The caller was able to provide a partial license plate number for the truck and a deputy found it and conducted a traffic stop near Mark West Station and Starr roads, according to the sheriff's office.
A 18-year-old man was behind the wheel and a 17-year-old boy was a passenger in the truck. The 17-year-old accepted blame and said he had acquired a firework in Nevada last week and brought it home, sheriff's officials said.
While the pair drove around, the 17-year-old asked the driver to pull over, then got out of the truck, lit the firework and threw it in the mailbox. The teen apologized and offered to pay for the mailbox, according to the sheriff's office.
Deputies called the teen's father, who took custody of him after he was issued a citation for vandalism. The boy's name is not being released because he is a minor, sheriff's officials said.
