Disturbing the peace
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 10 months AGO
Toppled headstones rest on the ground at St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery on Friday. A driver crashed through a fence on Front Avenue late Thursday and struck the headstones before fleeing the scene.
BILL BULEY/Press
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | February 11, 2023 1:05 AM
COEUR d'ALENE — A driver crashed through a fence at St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery late Thursday and toppled two headstones before coming to a stop.
A suspect was later arrested and a second person was cited and released.
The incident rattled those who have been involved with the many improvements in recent years to the cemetery near the end of East Sherman Avenue.
"Please pray for our sweet cemetery, the people in it, and the CdA Police," wrote Tina Johnson, who leads the St. Thomas Catholic Church cemetery committee.
A rock headstone standing about two and a half feet tall in the children's section of the cemetery was knocked down, and a rock cross snapped off.
A smaller, white headstone with a statute of a lamb was also struck and knocked over.
When the fence was hit, it broke loose from the bottom and flipped up. It was bent but was pushed back into place. It will need to be replaced, Johnson said.
She said the headstones were in the old section of the cemetery where children are buried. The larger headstone had been standing since 1943 and was one of four handmade headstones at St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery.
She said they plan to have it put back together.
"It can't just be replaced," Johnson said.
Car parts and a bumper were found between the statues of Mary and Jesus Christ in the newer section of the cemetery, left behind as the driver fled the scene.
A 20-year-old Post Falls man was later arrested in connection to the incident.
He was being held in the Kootenai County jail Friday. Misdemeanor charges included desecrating graves, driving under the influence, open container, failure to stop, resisting arrest and obstructing justice.
According to a Coeur d'Alene police report, an officer responding to an accident call about 11:20 p.m. at the 2100 block of E. Sherman saw a vehicle matching the description given of the one involved in the accident making a left turn from U.S. 95 onto Appleway Avenue.
"When I got behind the vehicle it sped up in an attempt to avoid me and came to a stop at James and Francis," the police officer wrote.
Two people got out of the vehicle and fled on foot, the report said.
The driver was found hiding in a backyard on Francis. He had facial lacerations and head injuries and was taken to Kootenai Health, where he was cleared and transported to the jail.
A passenger was cited for resisting arrest and released.
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