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    1. Fleenor Church cemetery damaged!!!!
    2. Edgar A. Howard
    3. So Ole Scratch is working against us?!!! Some one should video all the stones in that cemetery. >From the BHC: One or more vandals caused extensive damage to a Washington County, Va., church cemetery and two outbuildings early Sunday morning, authorities said. More than a dozen tombstones were knocked over and smashed in the cemetery next to Fleenor's Memorial Church, where storage buildings were destroyed and picnic tables were torn apart. Damage estimates were incomplete, although investigators said Monday that the final figure would be "several thousand dollars." Sheriff's investigators said items painted with pentagrams and other symbols associated with devil worship and witchcraft were found in a car allegedly used in the incident. Investigators said the impounded vehicle was used to crash the cemetery gates and drive over tombstones, some of which are more than 100 years old. Felony warrants were issued Monday for 19-year-old Christopher Rash, a Bristol Virginia man who was discharged Monday from the Bristol Regional Medical Center. Sheriff Kenneth Hayter said Rash, 356 Magnolia St., was hospitalized after consuming an unknown quantity of alcohol and prescription drugs the night of the alleged incident. A hospital spokesman could not say whether Rash was released to another facility. The sheriff said the suspect was transferred to a substance-abuse facility. Rash is charged with two felony counts of destroying private property and tombstones, the sheriff said. He also faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge. The warrants will be served when Rash is released from the detoxification center, Hayter said. Copies of the warrants have been delivered to county prosecutors, said Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Jeff Coale. The felony charges may be upgraded to hate crimes under federal law, the sheriff said. Investigators have not determined why this particular church was vandalized, although they have ruled out racism as a motive. Fleenor Memorial Church does not have a black congregation. A number of black churches across the South have been burned in recent years. The Ford automobile that was allegedly used to cause most of the damage was seized in Bristol and taken to the sheriff's office, investigators said. More than a dozen empty bottles of vodka and whiskey were also found in the car, Capt. Chuck Bishop said. The vehicle is not registered to the suspect, Bishop added, saying investigators are still trying to determine if more than one person was involved. "Why would anyone do a thing like this?" the sheriff asked Monday afternoon while surveying the damage. Gates to the cemetery were ripped from the hinges and buckled inward in a heap of twisted metal. The tombstone of Isaac B. Fleenor, who was 80 years old when he died in 1879, was knocked from its base and cracked into three pieces. Monuments and other memorials were uprooted from the earth and a car had torn away the grass over dozens of graves, leaving muddy tire tracks. A vehicle had obviously been crashed into a wooden storage shed and picnic tables, where shattered headlight glass was strewn along the ground. The driver also tried to crash into the front doors of the church, the sheriff said, but was unable to make it up the six cement steps. The church interior was not damaged. Hayter said his office investigates infrequent reports of cemetery vandalism, typically around Halloween, "but nothing like this." Sunday services at the non-denominational church were held at the usual time, said Paschal Stewart, a church trustee. Stewart said he had contacted an insurance company, but did not know whether the cemetery damage would be covered. He said the congregation "is torn all to pieces" over the vandalism. "I don't know what we're going to do." The incident was reported to the sheriff's office by the church groundskeeper around 12:20 a.m. Sunday, Hayter said. The groundskeeper lives near the church, the sheriff said, and called 911 after hearing a disturbance on the property.

    02/09/1999 08:58:22