Carroll County

Drunk driver destroys headstones at historic cemetery, police say

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — A drunken driver destroyed a row of headstones at a historic Carrollton cemetery, causing tens of thousands of dollars' worth of damage, police said.

According to police, the driver was coming down Martin Luther King Street on March 19, ran a stop sign, jumped a curb and crashed into the city-owned cemetery.

The broken headstones range in date from the late 1800s to 1950.

“And what we discussed is, if one is damaged beyond repair, we’ll put something back that’s respectful. It’s hard to replace it with the exact same item. The families aren’t around anymore, so the city will take on the responsibility,” city manager Tim Grizzard said.


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The 35-year-old driver, Ray Antonio Baker, was arrested and charged with DUI. City officials said they will ask his insurance carrier to pay for the damage.

“Our plan is to go after the individual’s insurance to pay for repairs. If that doesn’t pay for everything, the city will certainly pick up the tab,” Grizzard said.

Officials said this isn’t the first time a driver has damaged headstones, but it’s not a big enough problem to put up a wall.

“It’s not something that has happened often enough that we need to put up a barrier. If it was a recurrent spot, we would do something,” Grizzard said.

City officials said it could take weeks to repair the damage.