Early on Friday morning a vehicle drove through the black steel fence of St. Thomas Cemetery, snapping sections of the fence and overturning multiple headstones before coming to a stop roughly 50 feet inside the grounds. No one was reported injured, but cemetery volunteers and maintenance staff described the scene as upsetting and warned repairs could take weeks or months depending on insurance.
Extent of damage and response
Witnesses at the cemetery said the vehicle first struck several fence sections, then ran over and snapped off a smaller headstone before travelling over additional monuments and striking a larger headstone, knocking it down. Damage was estimated at about $10,000, according to cemetery staff.
- Time of incident: early Friday morning
- Vehicle: red 2006 Volkswagen (per police report)
- Estimated damage: $10,000
- Arrest: driver arrested on suspicion of impaired driving
Mike Kopf, maintenance superintendent for the cemetery, told reporters the grounds had undergone substantial improvements over the past five years and had been free of incidents until a similar crash more than three years earlier. “It rarely happens,” he said.
Police account and arrest
According to the Coeur d’Alene police report, officers first observed the red Volkswagen travelling eastbound on Front Avenue without functioning taillights at about 2 a.m. The officer caught up with the vehicle after it had struck the cemetery fence. The report describes the vehicle reversing over a headstone, then backing into another before coming to rest.
“As I activated my overhead emergency lights, the vehicle was at a stop but reversed over a headstone and backed into another headstone after which the vehicle came to a final rest,” the report states.
Officers at the scene say they detected the odour of an alcoholic beverage emanating from the vehicle. The driver, identified in the report as Zane Anthony Trevino, was arrested and booked into the Kootenai County jail on a charge of driving under the influence. Jail records showed he remained in custody as of Friday afternoon. The report indicates Trevino was not injured in the crash.
Past incident and community concern
Cemetery committee members recalled a February 2023 crash through the same fenced area, which damaged headstones in the cemetery’s older section, where children are buried. Alcohol was reportedly involved in that earlier incident. A rock headstone dated 1943 was struck in 2023 and was reported to have been struck again in Friday’s crash.
Volunteer Tina Johnson, who serves on the St. Thomas Catholic Church cemetery committee and has overseen restoration projects on the grounds, described the latest damage as “very disappointing.” She suggested adding physical protections such as Jersey barriers to prevent vehicles from entering the cemetery in future.
Repair timeline and next steps
Maintenance staff cautioned that repair work to the fence and reconstructed headstones could take weeks or months, subject to insurance assessments and the availability of stonemasons and materials. The cemetery has undertaken several beautification and preservation projects in recent years, and volunteers say they will assess restoration priorities once authorities complete their investigation and insurance matters are clarified.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | St. Thomas Cemetery (Coeur d’Alene) |
| Vehicle | Red 2006 Volkswagen |
| Damage estimate | $10,000 |
| Arrest | Driver charged with impaired driving |
For families with markers in the affected area, the cemetery committee has advised patience while police complete their report and insurance claims proceed. Committee members reaffirmed their commitment to preserving the site but said they will review protective measures to reduce the risk of similar incidents in future.
The incident is a reminder of the vulnerability of burial sites to vehicular accidents and the emotional impact such damage has on communities and families. Cemetery officials and volunteers said they will continue to work with authorities and contractors to repair the damage and explore ways to better protect the grounds.
