(Update Sept. 30, 2025): According to the Rockport Police Dept., the operator of a vehicle that knocked down headstones at Glen Cove Cemetery before becoming stuck, Thursday, Sept. 25, has been charged with Operating Under the Influence (Class D).

ROCKPORT — Several grave stones were damaged in a Rockport cemetery, Thursday morning, after being plowed down by a vehicle.

Rockport Police came upon the Warrenton Street incident and informed Knox Regional Communications, who in turn notified Rockport Fire and EMS at approximately 10:10 a.m., Sept. 25, 2025.

The driver and sole occupant was eventually driven away in the back of a police cruiser.

It was clear from the start how the vehicle got into Glen Cove Cemetery (between posts identifying a cemetery driveway and then up a hill). The question became, how to remove it, as it perched on top of, and surrounding, headstones. 

Camden Exxon's Steve Laite has been called to graveyards before, but never had stones been damaged, and never had he needed to maneuver such a tight and delicate situation. The only recourse was trial and error, based on a general sense of physics and an indepth knowledge of his equipment.

Ultimately, a multi-step process followed, including lifting the front of the car, rotating the car, lifting the rear of the car, and then cautiously pulling the raised car forward, away from the underlying stone. Laite then switched tow trucks and loaded the car onto a flat bed. 

Some of the headstones that were damaged in the single-vehicle crash are of Robert Gregory (d-Dec. 4, 1898) and his wife, Eunice (d-Sept. 8, 1887, and another wife, Susan; as well as John Ross, who may have died Oct. 25, 1869. Family members of nearby graves might want to check their relatives' headstones as well.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com