voiceforus
- Jun 11
- 2 min read

DAVID WALTER VANLANDINGHAM, Indiana mailman, arrested –He pepper-sprayed a dog through the mail slot

- Indiana, USA -

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Anderson mailman for pepper-spraying a dog through the mail slot of the home where he was delivering mail.

According to the resident of the home, Ms. Kerrigan Cronk, her Ring doorbell camera captured the mailman first dropping some mail and then getting a pepper spray bottle out of his bag. The then proceeded to spray her dog, a 1-year-old Dalmatian named Palmer.

Online arrest records maintained by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office show that the mailman, identified as 52-year-old DAVID WALTER VANLANDINGHAM (pictured) was arrested on June 5, 2024, and released the following day.

Ms. Cronk reported the incident to the authorities and according to WTSP, she filed a claim with the USPS. Ms. Cronk’s husband went to the post office on Raible Avenue to talk to the postmaster, and she told WTSP: “The postmaster kept telling my husband the pepper spray is a very mild pepper spray. That's all that he kept saying, which to me doesn't matter. He deliberately sprayed my dog three times and our house with my 2-month-old.”

Ms. Cronk went on to say: “I don't understand it because he stuck our mail in the slot and then went out of his way to spray our dog. He could have just stuck the mail in the slot and then walked away, but he chose to stay and continued to spray our dog.”

In a written statement sent to 13News, USPS said: “The Postal Service extends sincere apology to the customer whose dog was sprayed by the carrier in this incident. The action displayed by the employee in the online video does not reflect the efforts of the thousands of professional, dedicated carriers in our workforce.

We are unable to comment further on a specific individual personnel matter.”

VANLANDINGHAM is facing one count of animal cruelty and one count of criminal mischief.

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VANLANDINGHAM’s mugshot shared from the Madison County Jail