A 17-year-old Mountlake Terrace boy is facing criminal charges associated with a March 3 incident in which he allegedly drove through Edmonds’ Restlawn Memorial cemetery, damaging the grounds and grave markers.
Edmonds Acting Assistant Police Chief Shane Hawley said that police were called to the scene at 6:23 a.m. Thursday, March 3 after receiving reports of a car “doing doughnuts in the cemetery,” located at 23800 104th Ave. W., near Hickman Park in southwest Edmonds.
An officer found a car matching the description of the suspect vehicle “covered in dirt and grass” in the parking lot of nearby Faith Community Church, Hawley said. There were four juveniles in car, including the 17-year-old driver, who was released to the custody of his parent, he added.
Police are waiting on a damage estimate and other details before referring charges to the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office, Hawley said.
Absolutely unacceptable behavior!!!! So disappointed that this young person even thinks this is ok. My family is buried there and I am going to check out the area damaged. There needs to be consequences for this action.
If there is damage consider a civil suit for monetary damages, don’t forget pain and suffering.
I hope everyone with a property interest sues these jerks.
Idiot, and the saddest excuse for donuts I’ve seen. Make him mow it for a while.
Now, make him work there (hard work) everyday this summer.
Poor kid needs to be coddled and pampered otherwise he will feel oppressed by actual punishment and forever be a victim. Or at least that’s what they tell me. I think a couple of hundred hours community service working at the cemetery this summer is a better idea. He needs to learn actions have consequences.
I like this idea. It puts them in touch with direct affects of actions and maybe he’ll even end up having compassion for the people who have their loved ones buried there by requiring him to talk to the families. Part of a Peace Making Circle technique where all people affected by the actions are involved and the teen hears them out…I have four family members at this cemetery.
Or he can have his Felony charges.
” In many cases it is against the law to deface or desecrate grave sites or human remains. These include removing gravestones, leaving trash, disturbing, or tampering with a gravesite. People are also not allowed to open any repository of human remains or cover over or destroy. In many cases these are felonies.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desecration_of_graves
Desecration of graves – Wikipedia”
Make all 4 juveniles work at the cemetery 5 days a week and pay for ALL damages even if it takes 10 years! This is totally unacceptable behavior for anyone. Doing this at their age now with a slap on the wrist, who knows what they’ll do later on in life. These kids need to know there are consequences for unacceptable behavior.
Take his driver’s license away until he pays restitution.
JAIL TIME !!
How do I tell my wife who is Suffering terminal brain cancer, and is already so afraid, That their are jerks who are out there who don’t have a heart or think of how badly this will affect others ?
There should be severe punishment for the driver and some punishment for the other participants involved in this incident. His driver’s license should be revoked and he should also have to pay restitution for this act. It would not hurt all of the participants to do community service restoring the cemetery grounds and grave sites along with monetary restitution. This is a flawed system because it takes people tracking them to get them to pay the damages. If they leave the Stare of Washington it takes someone to track them down and cooperation between states is not always easy or possible. Maybe best to make them all responsible for restitution and get a judgment against the parents. Did they not know where he or his buddies were so early in the morning? Maybe these kids will change their behavior after having to appear before a judge. We’re there alcohol and drugs involved also? Expensive lesson for parents and kids but best learned now rather than later. What were they thinking?