Plainview Rural Cemetery damage allegedly caused by driver’s medical emergency

LYSANDER, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Charles Bratt is the Plainville Rural Cemetery Association president. He also has multiple relatives laid to rest here which made the news even harder to take.

“You think some of the bigger cemeteries in Syracuse have had some vandalisms,” he said. “You don’t think something like this would happen to a cemetery like this.”

• Mild end to April
• The best hybrid cars for 2024
• Fireworks at Syracuse Mets game cause brush fire
• Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after his return to New York from upstate prison
• Bizarre sea creatures become ‘all-you-can-eat-buffet’ off SoCal coast

He says it happened sometime Saturday afternoon, April 20.

“We thought it was a vandalism, but then I received information this morning that supposedly the person who did this had a medical condition, and then he was taken to the hospital,” Bratt said.

Though it doesn’t appear intentional, 16 headstones were knocked over or destroyed.
Bratt is looking into filing an application for restoration of vandalism damage to cover the costs.

“We have to have some estimates on what monument companies will charge and then we send that to them, and they decide how much they want to pay,” he said.

A wrought-iron fence has stood at the cemetery for over 100 years. It was flattened by vehicle. Bratt says he’s not sure if it will be able to get fixed.

“That bothered me a lot because that’s irreplaceable,” he said.

Bratt says he expects repairs on the headstones to start next week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.