Teen Suspected Of DWI Plows Through Cemetery Wall, Damages Graves In Central MN: Sheriff

SAUK CENTRE, MN — A 19-year-old Long Prairie man was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after a pickup truck crashed through a stone wall and into a Sauk Centre cemetery early Saturday, according to the Stearns County Sheriff's Office.

Daniel Camorlinga Meza was booked into the Stearns County Jail and held for court on third-degree DWI charges, the sheriff's office said.

The Stearns County Emergency Communications Center received a call at about 2:56 a.m. Saturday reporting an unoccupied truck that had gone through a stone fence and struck several grave markers at Greenwood Cemetery, which sits on the edge of Sauk Centre city limits. Around the same time, dispatchers received a 911 call that disconnected. When they called back, a man answered and said there was no problem, according to the sheriff's office.

Sauk Centre police officers arrived and confirmed the truck was empty. A short time later, one of the officers found Camorlinga Meza northeast of the crash near 390th Avenue in Sauk Centre Township, authorities said.

Investigators confirmed his phone was the one that had called 911 around the time of the crash, and that he owned the 2012 Chevrolet Silverado left at the scene, the sheriff's office said.

According to the sheriff's office, Camorlinga Meza was driving east on County Road 17 when he failed to stop at a T intersection, went through the cemetery's stone wall and hit numerous grave markers before the truck came to a stop.

He was arrested and taken to the Sauk Centre hospital to be evaluated for his injuries before being transported to jail. The sheriff's office did not describe the extent of his injuries.

A cemetery representative contacted Saturday evening estimated the total damage at about $50,000, the sheriff's office said.

The Sauk Centre and Melrose police departments assisted the sheriff's office.