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Car rams into Burke County Courthouse

Julie N. Chang | The News Herald

Herbert Bristol, 52.

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VIDEO: Car drives into Burke County Courthouse

By Julie N. Chang | The News Herald

Published: November 6, 2009

Updated: 11/06/2009 04:28 pm

MORGANTON - The man accused of running his car into the Burke County Courthouse early Friday morning said he was drinking before the incident.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I'm an alcoholic," Herbert Bristol, 53, of 3585 N.C. 18 South said while Morganton Department of Public Safety investigators took him into custody Friday afternoon.

They charged Bristol with misdemeanor breaking and entering, injury to real property, driving while license revoked, leaving the scene of a hit-and-run that caused property damage and defacing a public building. His bond was set at $25,000.

Bristol said he wasn't sure he remembered the accident.

"They say I ran into the courthouse building," he said.

Once someone told him what happened, "I had to remember," Bristol said.

If he had passed by a gas station, Bristol said he could have purchased gasoline "to blow (stuff) up."

Pointing out the early morning hour of the incident, Bristol said, "I don't want to hurt nobody."

Video surveillance recordings show a Pontiac stopping about 40 feet outside the Burke County Courthouse before driving into the south side of the building around 2 a.m. Friday, breaking through two sets of double doors and stopping in the lobby.

A man exits the car with a cigarette in hand and walks away nonchalantly from the scene.

Carson Fischer, Burke County General Services director, said workers would secure the building for the weekend until an option is found for replacing the doors that are an original part of the approximately 30-year-old building.

The car damaged the door frames, Fischer said, and glass panels above the doors are in danger of falling.

It could take a few weeks to finish repairing the doors, Fischer said. The courthouse will remain open during regular business hours.

According to court records, Bristol was convicted in 2003 of driving while impaired. He was sentenced to two months in jail and a year of probation.

Bristol has two upcoming court dates. He is scheduled to appear in Superior Court Nov. 30 on charges of reckless driving and wanton disregard, DWI and driving while license revoked. He is due in district court April 7, 2010, for speeding, driving while impaired, civil revocation of a driver's license and no operator's license.