A Whitefield woman has been charged with drunken driving and other offenses in connection with a car crash last month at a local cemetery that left a dozen gravestones splintered or damaged, most of them markers commemorating Irish immigrants who came to the area in the 1800s.

Katelyn N. Jacques, 19, has been issued summonses charging her with operating under the influence, being a minor possessing liquor, criminal mischief and driving to endanger, all related to the crash on Grand Army Road, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

A 2006 Subaru Forester rests on its side March 27, 2018, after a crash that left the driver injured, damaged a fence and toppled gravestones at the cemetery next to St. Denis Church in Whitefield. Photo courtesy of Lincoln County Sheriff's Office

Police said Jacques’ car went off the road about 12:20 a.m. March 27 and rolled over into the cemetery next to St. Denis Catholic Church. The crash, which was investigated by Deputy Ryan Chubbuck, resulted in Jacques’ Subaru Forester sliding through the cemetery for about 100 feet, breaking a number of old gravestones along the way before stopping on its side.

Jacques was alone in the vehicle and police reported that she suffered what appeared to be minor injuries.

Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett said Jacques had been coming from Cooper Road onto Grand Army Road, which is also Route 126, when she lost control of the car.

David Desjardins, property manager for St. Michael Parish, which includes St. Denis Church and complex, said in an email to the pastor that it appeared the vehicle hit a handrail, launched into the air and then ended up about 100 feet inside the cemetery.

Jacques is scheduled for a July 26, 2018, court hearing in Wiscasset.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

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