Alleged drunk driver slams into 150-year-old Civil War monument
By Neal Riley
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NANTUCKET, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Nantucket man has been charged with drunk driving after crashing into a 150-year-old monument to Civil War veterans on the island, police said.
Police and fire crews responded to the area of Milk and Main streets shortly after 8 p.m. on Wednesday night.
“It was reported that the vehicle had struck the Nantucket Civil War Monument in the middle of the intersection,” Nantucket police said in a statement.
The driver, identified as 27-year-old Nantucket resident Lucas Araujo Franca de Brito, was taken to the hospital and then arrested. Police said he faces charges of operating under the influence of liquor, speeding, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, failing to stop or yield and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.
No one else was reported to be hurt in the incident.
The Nantucket Current reported that “the damage appeared limited to the base and guardrails” of the monument that was dedicated in 1875. One of the big pieces of granite that surrounds the monument ended up nearly 20 feet away as a result of the crash, according to the publication.
The obelisk monument is a tribute to Nantucket residents who died fighting in the Civil War. The Nantucket Historical Association says nearly 400 men fought on the Union side, and 73 were killed.
Back in 2023, a truck was caught on video slamming into another historic monument on the island. That crash destroyed the Main Street fountain, which was dedicated in 1932 to Spanish-American Civil War casualty Lt. Max Wagner.
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