Roadside Memorial Vandalized In Macomb County
CLINTON TWP. (WWJ/AP) - Someone has vandalized a Macomb County roadside memorial dedicated to a couple killed in a traffic crash a year ago.
Denise Montgomery said relatives noticed the vandalism in recent weeks after they held a balloon launch at the Clinton Township site to mark the one-year anniversary of the crash that killed Montgomery's 47-year-old sister, Kelly Potasnik, and Thomas Taylor, 58.
Montgomery contacted local police and the county road department to see if they had ordered the memorial to be destroyed, but neither was aware of anything wrong at the site.
Montgomery told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens she "can't believe it" and is sick to her stomach over the vandalism.
"Most of the things we had there were left broken but they stole some things that I had my sister's name on," she said. "Seriously, why would you steal something with a dead person's name on it?"
A group of crosses and a few personal items had marked the site where Potasnik and Taylor were killed in August 2012.
Potasnik, of Roseville, and Thomas, her live-in boyfriend of three years, were riding Taylor's motorcycle when they were struck from behind by a motorist who police said was driving 106 mph. Potasnik and Thomas were thrown into another vehicle.
Jeffery Jones, 46, pleaded no contest in March in Macomb County Circuit Court to two counts of drunken driving causing death and one count of drunken driving causing serious injury in the crash. He was sentenced to serve 8 to 16 years in prison.
Potasnik was buried in Royal Oak, but her family erected the memorial at the site of her death because "this is where it all happened."
"We can go to the cemetery, but I get peace of mind at the memorial site," Montgomery said.
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