Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 1, 1994 TAG: 9411010112
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But what he said began as a bathroom stop landed Myers in Bedford County General District court Monday.
State Trooper Bill Coleman testified that he found the trio early on Saturday, June 25, about a mile from the Hickory Grove cemetery at the corner of Virginia 43 and Virginia 723.
Myers, rounding a curve, had lost control of the car. It crashed through two fences and ran up an embankment. And in the pasture beside Myers' car, Coleman found a tombstone.
The tombstone was one of two reported missing from Hickory Grove's cemetery, where about 75 people are buried. An investigation turned up the other missing headstone under a tree at the accident scene.
In addition to the two stolen headstones, 15 other headstones were overturned at the cemetery.
John Hodges, chairman of the Board of Trustees for the cemetery, testified that a neighbor had called that Saturday morning and said "a hurricane had hit the cemetery." Hodges parents' headstones were among the ones damaged.
He said the damages to the stones amounted to $520.
"The attitude that boys will be boys just doesn't get it with this case," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz, who handled the case. "It's one thing to go out on Halloween night and soap some windows, but it's another thing to go into a cemetery and do what these boys did."
Myers was charged with the misdemeanor of reckless driving and the felony charge of maliciously destroying, defacing, injuring or removing tombstones from the Hickory Grove cemetery.
The two 16-year-olds, who testified for the prosecution, earlier were found guilty in juvenile court of property damage. They both await sentencing.
Myers was found guilty Monday of reckless driving. His driver's license was suspended for six months and he must pay a $10 fine.
The judge certified the felony charge to the grand jury. If found guilty, Myers could face one to five years in prison.
by CNB