About 2 dozen headstones damaged by truck in Nicholasville cemetery. What’s next.
A Nicholasville cemetery is preparing for significant repairs after a driver allegedly tore through the property, destroying thousands of dollars worth of gravesites, police and court records say.
The driver was allegedly drunk, police say.
Nicholasville police received a call at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday about a vehicle driving into Maple Grove Cemetery off Bell Court, according to an arrest citation. The cemetery is owned and operated by the city.
When Nicholasville police Sgt. Chase Bowman responded, he saw Thomas Garner, 47, attempting to flee in his 2017 Chevrolet Silverado, according to court records. The truck was severely damaged after running over headstones, the arrest citation said.
Doug Blackford, the Nicholasville director of general government, was told to expect the total damage to be close to $100,000 with 22 to 25 headstones affected.
“It’s a very unfortunate incident and it’s disrupted a lot of families with their loved ones that are in this particular section,” Blackford said.
According to his arrest citation, Garner eventually exited his truck. He was very unsteady on his feet and had slurred speech. Garner refused to take a field sobriety test but said multiple times that he was “f****** drunk,” police said.
Officers asked Garner if he was injured, and Garner used another expletive before saying, “arrest me,” according to the arrest citation.
After being transported to the Jessamine County Detention Center, Garner took a preliminary breath test and blew a .222, according to court documents. He stated “all he was doing was drinking rum.”
Blackford said the city is currently investigating to determine the full extent of the damage. Once that’s complete and insurance companies do their due diligence, the cleanup and replacement phase will start.
Garner provided his insurance information, according to Blackford.
“Obviously we’re going to have to have monuments remade, reordered,” Blackford said. As soon as both insurance companies are finished “and an investigation is complete, we will start immediately with the cleanup of the site.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 3:40 PM.
