A driver destroyed a woman’s mailbox and bridge. Derby cops built her new ones.

Editor’s note: An earlier online version of this story incorrectly spelled Derby police Officer Rooshad Irani’s name.

When Joan Van Boening’s mailbox and small wooden footbridge were destroyed in a hit-and-run accident earlier this month, she called the Derby police, expecting them to come out and take a report for insurance purposes.

It was the third time the mailbox had been hit, and second time for the bridge. Her son-in-law and late husband had built her new ones on those occasions, but as she and her daughter began to clean up the debris, she didn’t even have time to think about how she’d repair the mailbox and bridge before Derby police Officer Rooshad Irani arrived at the scene.

Van Boening, 84, says Irani urged her not to worry and to leave the pieces — he and a couple of officers would be back soon to finish the cleanup and fix Van Boening’s mailbox and bridge.

“I was surprised,” Van Boening said. “He told me that they had some guys that were good woodworkers, and that they did it extra sometimes just to help people out with some things.”

By the time Van Boening had gone to Mass the next morning, officers Irani and Kayla Sanders, Master Police Officer Chris West and Sgt. Chad Carson had already replaced the bridge over the roadside culvert, which they started working on after their shift ended at midnight. By Tuesday morning, they had cemented a new mailbox by the bridge, all with about $200 in materials they had bought out of pocket.

“Hopefully it gives her a reason to smile when she goes to go get her mail, even though what her husband built isn’t there anymore,” Sanders said.

West said the officers just wanted to make sure that Van Boening could safely get her mail by keeping her off of the narrow road, where people often speed.

“It’s just hard to believe that they did absolutely everything to get me back in good shape again,” Van Boening said. “I told them that this was really nice for them to do, and they said I was family and drove off.

“That really brought tears to my eyes,” Van Boening continued. “You just don’t expect someone to be so kind and so caring about my situation.”

Van Boening had heard a loud noise outside her home on that July 14 morning, but she attributed it to a storm. It wasn’t until her postman walked down to her house later that day that she realized her bridge and mailbox had been hit.

Derby police are investigating the crime, but Sgt. Carson said the chances of finding the driver are slim.

“That was one of the deciding factors in doing what we did,” Carson said. “It was the right thing to do because the person who hit the mailbox didn’t do the right thing, and we can make a wrong right.”

This story was originally published July 27, 2018 at 6:07 PM.