LEWISTON — Lewiston police have charged a fourth person in connection with the vandalism of gravestones at Riverside Cemetery.
Phillip McDaniel, 21, of 236 Main St., Auburn, has been charged with furnishing alcohol to minors.
According to Det. Lee Jones, a Rite-Aid receipt for 40-ounce cans of beer was found at the cemetery so police viewed the video surveillance from the store and identified McDaniel from that video.
McDaniel, who recently moved to Auburn from Pittsburgh, “confessed that he had provided alcohol to three of the people that were involved” in the vandalism, Jones said.
Jones said that McDaniel does not appear to have participated in the cemetery vandalism, and does not have any prior convictions in Maine.
McDaniel is scheduled to make his first appearance at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15, in 8th District Court.
Also charged in this case are Billie Coburn, 18, Shane Haskell, 20, and Jesse Macia, 18, all of Lewiston. The trio face charges of aggravated criminal mischief and desecration and defacement of a burial site after allegedly knocking over and damaging more than 100 gravestones in the Lewiston cemetery in early August. The three made their initial court appearances Aug. 25 after spending time in jail.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
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