MOBILE, Ala. — A man fleeing police early Sunday morning crashed his vehicle into the Korean War Memorial at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, damaging the monument, according to park officials.
Janet Cobb, executive director of the Battleship Memorial Park, photographed some of the damage left by the incident. The suspect’s vehicle crashed through the park’s main chain-link gate before striking the Korean War Memorial near the entrance.
“We have to assess the damage,” Cobb said. “We’ll get a monuments company or several to come out and give us some estimates on what we can do to either repair this one or, the big back piece that’s broken into three sections, the map of North Korea and South Korea, if it has to be replaced.”
Spanish Fort Police said officers first spotted the man near the Bass Pro Shop on the Causeway. A pursuit led across the Causeway and then onto the Battleship Park property, where the vehicle broke through the gate and hit the memorial. The car then caught fire, and the driver ran from the scene.
Because the suspect was not immediately found, Cobb said she was concerned for the safety of employees and visitors as the park prepared to open Sunday morning. Police searched the area for the driver.