Photo from a mango heist last year
By: Sharon Aron Baron
Any resident that has a fruit tree on their property knows that it can be one of their biggest pleasures – as well as their biggest pains. Especially when people keep taking fruit without even asking.
Residents in the Woodlands Country Club, have been growing their mango trees and lovingly tending to them, and like many fruit tree owners in Tamarac, and one of the biggest delights is walking outside picking up ripened fruit on the ground to eat with breakfast. For many, it’s like an Easter egg hunt.
Sadly, this joy is short-lived by those that take the fruit thinking that it somehow belongs to the general public – that they can just come on someone’s property and either pick it for free without asking, or believe that because it’s lying on ground, it’s theirs.
On Tuesday, two people, who may have believed someone’s mangos were free for the taking, were stopped by the Broward Sheriff’s Office after noticing the mango thieves on Dan Margolis’ property.
Dan wrote on our Facebook page:
“Just want to say thank you to Officer Joseph of BSO Tamarac, who took the time to stop by my house last night and inform me that he had stopped two people earlier in the day helping themselves to mangos off of our tree.
Joseph had them place their bag of mangos on our doorstep, after explaining to them that they are not entitled to arbitrarily walk onto someone’s property and help themselves. In 15 years on the boulevard, and countless mango and orange raids, this is the first time that a ‘theft’ was prevented, although the mangos weren’t even ripe. We are grateful to Officer Joseph and his handling of the affair. As a side note, if anyone is interested in our mangos, please ask first. We are happy to share, but it’s the polite/neighborly thing to do, and prevents any misunderstanding for your reason on our property. If we’re not home, leave a note, and we’ll arrange a convenient mango picking time.”
So share this post, look out for your neighbor who is waiting for this once-a-year mango season. As always, if you see something suspicious, call police.