COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — A driver crashed and damaged a gravesite at Saint Thomas Catholic Cemetery in Coeur d'Alene.
Last Thursday, Tina Johnson woke up to a call from the police that a car damaged the church's cemetery.
When Johnson arrived, she saw a headstone knocked over and a broken fence. The church's priest is staying optimistic amidst the bad situation.
"We're gonna stay positive, you know, and also, not only for us, it's a challenge. And when things like this happen, it takes you to the next level," said Priest Remigius Ihim.
The suspect fled the cemetery, but parts of the suspect's car were left at the scene. He was caught and arrested by police later that night.
The damaged gravesite belonged to "Baby Bauer." The date of death, February, 1910.
"I was just kind of shocked that it happened and and they knocked over that giant headstone and broke it up. It was a pretty sad situation," said Mike Kopf, the cemetery saxton.
Johnson says that there has already been an overwhelming amount of support from the community.
Johnson said, "The family of another one of the kids who was in the truck are the ones that came down and did the memorial."
The memorial had a picture of a heart and handwritten notes. The memorial was left over the weekend from families of the suspect.
The church says there are plans to fix the fence and the headstone. They hope with their insurance they don't have to pay out of pocket.
Johnson says the fence will have to be replaced. As for the 100 year old headstone, it doesn't look promising that it can be fixed.
"Terrific people who've worked very hard to make it beautiful, and make it a place of rest and a place of prayer. Something like this happens, you know, that same team will jump into action and will put things back the way they were very quickly," said Kevin Jenne, the pastoral associate.
The suspect, Hunter Holden, is a 20-year-old from Post Falls. He is being held in jail on a $10,000 bail.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.