Car Crashes into Lincoln Park Memorial Early Thanksgiving Morning
by Larry Janezich
An early Thanksgiving morning car crash in Lincoln Park injured two and damaged the base of the park’s controversial Emancipation Memorial. Last summer, the National Park Service erected barriers and fences around statue which was reportedly the target of a group opposed to the memorial’s depiction of Lincoln standing over a freed slave. It’s unclear whether the crash was related to that incident. The WTOP Traffic Center first reported the crash at 5:40am.
Sarah Cochran, nearby neighbor and frequenter of the park captured the above images and said she was told by others in the early morning crowd which had collected that the car was found on its left side, almost against the statue. One person was trapped and extricated by the DC Fire and Emergency Services, and taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Another person was found wandering in the park and transported with minor injuries.
One explanation offered was that the car was travelling fast headed south on 12th Street when the driver mistook the sidewalk in the park as a continuation of the street. That means, however, that the car would likely have hit the curb on the south side of the park before continuing into the park, lending credibility to the possibility that the crash was deliberate. Park Police were said to have stated the occupants claimed to be evading someone trying to rob them. The car reportedly had expired VA temp tags.
The base of the statue was chipped and damaged but the statue itself did not appear to be harmed.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
You don’t use a mid-size luxury vehicle to make a political statement. It’s much more likely drugs or alcohol were involved in this mishap and that it had nothing to do with the statue.
Thank you, Detective Columbo – though you have no idea what you are talking about, your comment is very revealing.
I was woken up around 6 am with what sounded like gunfire. I wonder if it instead was the car crash. Does anyone know?