Vermont

Driver charged with DUI after crashing into flagpole at vets cemetery on Memorial Day

John Kunkle, 35, of Barre, was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence after state police troopers observed signs of impairment

Vermont State Police

A Vermont man is facing a drunken driving charge after he allegedly crashed into a flagpole at a Vermont veterans cemetery on Memorial Day.

State police said they received a call around 7 p.m. Monday for a report of a single-vehicle crash at the Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Furnace Road in Randolph. Troopers responded and found that a flagpole at the entryway of the cemetery had been "significantly damaged" as a result of the crash.

Randolph firefighters were able to safely take down the pole, which was leaning heavily.

The driver of the vehicle, identified by police as 35-year-old John Kunkle, of Barre, was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence after showing signs of impairment. He was taken to Gilford Medical Center in Randolph and later transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, where he remains in stable condition.

Kunkle is scheduled to appear in Vermont Superior Court in Chelsea on July 31, at 8:30 a.m. to answer to the drunken driving charge.

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