The carrier said the tree branches scraped his delivery car and blocked his view.

The upshot: Bogdan Pidashev, 25, a U.S. Postal Service carrier whose route took him through east Vancouver, now faces felony malicious-mischief charges after prosecutors say he caused more than $1,500 in damage by destroying 24 First Place neighborhood trees.

Charges arose after a neighbor took pictures of the mail carrier ripping branches off. She contacted Vancouver police officers who investigated and forwarded reports to Clark County prosecutors.

Prosecutors filed charges Wednesday.

Pidashev, who is still employed as a mail carrier, told police officers he had been involved in a traffic accident due to tree limbs blocking his view, and was concerned it would happen again.

He has been disciplined and transferred to a different route, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman Ron Anderson. The post office hadn’t received formal notice of the charges Wednesday, so officials wouldn’t offer further comment.

Reimbursement

When neighbors first complained to the post office in February, officials admitted the mail carrier caused the damage and promised to reimburse them.

First Place residents received a $2,400 check and are currently pruning some trees and removing and replacing others that sustained worse damage, said Susan Page, president of the neighborhood association. They hired an arborist to survey damage.

“We don’t want him slapped on the wrist with a letter in his file,” Page said. “Maybe this will drive the point home: You can’t destroy personal property and get away with it.”
The investigation began Feb. 2 when a resident called officers to report vandalism to trees in her yard.

She told officers other residents reported spotting the mail carrier breaking their trees’ limbs. The neighbor also snapped pictures of him breaking tree limbs, according to police reports.

“(The resident) said the mail carrier then placed the branches into his mail truck, apparently for the purpose of disposing them in another location,” according to a court affidavit filed by Vancouver police Officer Erik Jennings.