A Belfast woman told police she had swerved to miss a gopher on Friday night when she crashed into a Jefferson cemetery, damaging a fence and several headstones.
Courtney N. Burns, 33, did not stop to report the crash at Fairview Cemetery on Route 126, according to Lt. Brendan Kane of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. She eventually abandoned the car, a 2008 Hyundai Sonata, which had extensive damage. Deputies found her “some distance from the scene” at the Staab Agency on Route 32, according to Kane.
Burns was arrested on a Waldo County warrant for failure to pay fines and summonsed on a charge of failure to notify owner of property damage accident, according to the sheriff’s office.
Dan Brilyea of the Fairview Cemetery Association does not know how much it will cost to repair the chain fence and the headstones.
“We will go ahead as soon as I get a price,” Brilyea said.
The crash occurred around 8:30 p.m.
This story appears through a media partnership with The Lincoln County News.