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Baltimore's Washington Monument Damaged When Dozing Driver Crashes Into Wall

Dozing Driver With Connecticut Plates Damages Monument
The Baltimore Sun
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A car crashed into a Washington Monument park wall on Thursday at approximately 10 a.m., overturning and injuring a passenger and damaging the historic monument.

The flipped over four-door gray sedan blocked traffic on Washington Place just south of the 178-foot column to West Centre Street for at least an hour while police investigated and roped off a damaged stone wall in the park's South Garden.

Two men were in the car, which was a rental vehicle licensed in Connecticut, when the driver fell asleep and crashed into the wall, causing the car to flip over, police spokesman Det. Vernon Davis said. The driver was uninjured but paramedics transported the passenger to University of Maryland Medical Center with neck and back injuries.

No one else was involved or injured. Davis did not know if either men wore seat belts. Both air bags in the four-door sedan could be seen visibly deployed at the crash scene, where the bumper and a tire had broken off from the crumpled car.

Police roped off the areas of the park near the accident and warned people that the stone wall was in danger of falling. Davis acknowledged that the historic park was damaged but it was too soon to estimate the extent.

The Washington Monument column was built in 1829. The wall the car struck, just south of the column, is part of the smaller Lafayette Monument, built on one of the park's four squares. Dedicated in 1924, the Lafayette Monument features a bronze sculpture of the famous French aristocrat and military officer riding a marching horse. The Marquis de Lafayette served as a major-general in the Continental Army under George Washington and was also a powerful liaison to France, garnering French support that helped the Continental Army defeat the British.

In a Dec. 5 op-ed article in the Baltimore Sun, Mark R. Fettig, a founding board member and vice president of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, dedicated to restoring and maintaining the Washington Monument, said the park had fallen into disrepair and was in drastic need of restoration. Working with the city, his group proposed a $3 million public-private restoration project of which $1.5 million has already been raised.

jgeorge@baltsun.com

Twitter.com/justingeorge ___

(c)2012 The Baltimore Sun

Visit The Baltimore Sun at www.baltimoresun.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Before You Go

Dumb Crime 2012
Man Hides Gun In Rectum(01 of10)
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There are some places you just shouldn't hide a weapon. Take it from Michael Leon Ward, who -- despite multiple searches -- managed to sneak a 10-inch gun into a prison last January by concealing it in his rectum. Police in North Carolina found the weapon in a toilet after other inmates reported Ward's extra personal item. (credit:Onslow County Sheriff)
Man's Penis Stolen By Thieves(02 of10)
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Ouch! Fei Lin, 41, of the Niqiao village near Wenling City, in east China’s Zhejiang province, told police he was asleep when thieves broke into his room, put a bag over his head and cut off his penis. (credit:CEN / EUROPICS)
Sex Doll Saved From Drowning(03 of10)
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Save the woman! Save that, ohhh. In July, 18 police officers in China's Shandong Province rescued a drowning victim who turned out to be an inflatable sex doll. It took more than 40 minutes before the officers were able to recover the pleasure toy.
Naked and Fearless(04 of10)
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Looks cold up there. A very nude Dan Motrescu shocked central London when he mounted the bronze statue of the 19th-century Duke of Cambridge on Nov. 23.It took several hours for officers to talk him down, but once they did, Motrescu was charged with possession of an offensive weapon, criminal damage and a public order offense. (credit:AP)
Monkey Business(05 of10)
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Hypothesis: Not good.Officials jailed Coley Mitchell, 32, on August 13 after he was discovered intoxicated with his pants down in a campus locker room. In the same room: two lab monkeys who had been let out of their cages. (credit:Georgia Health Sciences University)
Oil Of Olay Bandit(06 of10)
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Real smooth.Police dubbed 27-year-old Efrain Hardman the "Oil Of Olay Bandit" after he allegedly stole $40,000 worth of skincare products. Staying clean and clear is hard, so Hardman eventually gave up and turned himself in to Texas police. (credit:NBC 5)
Sweet Justice, Sweet Relief(07 of10)
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It's OK to be a little pissed over getting pulled over, but it's never OK to piss on a police car. just ask Roger Alvin Henderson, who can be seen in this priceless screen grab relieving himself on a cruiser after he was pulled over for a tinted window violation. (credit:WTSP-TV)
Save That Hamster(08 of10)
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Police placed Nicole Huey's hamster in protective custody after arresting her for a DUI during October.The hamster "was not not using any safety equipment," wrote Officer Mike Rowe in a post, titled "A Hamster Was Taken Into Protective Custody," on the Beaverton Police Department's Facebook page. (credit: BEAVERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT)
What He Needed Was Some Underwear(09 of10)
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Verdon Lamon Taylor, 32, was busted at a Pennsylvania Walmart during February after he allegedly walked naked into the store and stole a pair of socks. Police said the suspect stripped off his clothes in the parking lot before waltzing into the mega-store in nothing but his birthday suit. (credit:WCAU)
No Lack Of Irony(10 of10)
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Terry Davis, 25 of Prospect, Ky., allegedly stole a textbook called "Resolving Ethical Issues" from a Barnes and Noble college book store near the University of Louisville's Health Sciences Center. He later tried to sell the text to Gray's College Bookstore, a rival book shop in Louisville. (credit: Louisville Metro Corrections)
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