MARION COUNTY — A 29-year-old Centralia man has been charged in Marion County Court with aggravated battery and aggravated fleeing police for a string of events Christmas Eve that resulted in one man being stabbed and dozens of headstones damaged at a local cemetery.

According to Centralia Police Chief Greg Dodson, his officers were called around 8 p.m. Christmas Eve to the 1200 block of South Walnut on a report of a man being stabbed.

The victim reportedly told police he was walking in a nearby alley with acquaintance Joshua Benjamin when a disagreement broke out between them.

Benjamin allegedly pulled a knife on the other man and stabbed him.

Benjamin fled the scene but allegedly stole a car around 1:30 a.m. that he quickly got stuck in a field.

He then allegedly stole a truck from the same location. Police then received a call from someone who knew Benjamin was being sought. The callers told police that Benjamin had just left their house in a pickup truck.

As officers approached the residence they noticed a truck matching the description they were given leaving the area.

Dodson says officers attempted an investigative traffic stop on the truck but the driver, now identified as Benjamin sped away.

He took police on a pursuit from 14th Street to Brookside, around that area, over to Lincoln and then north to Elmwood Cemetery where he attempted to drive through the tombstones.

Dodson says approximately 20 to 30 tombstones were subsequently destroyed.

Benjamin was ultimately apprehended and taken to the Marion County Jail.