Police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who badly damaged a historic gate at the city cemetery.

The entry gates, which stood at the Alessandro Road entrance to Hillside Memorial Park, were donated to the city in July of 1920 by Olivia Stokes in memory of her sister Caroline Phelps-Stokes, who died in April 1909. Caroline Park, the city’s 16.8-acre nature park, was also a gift to the city by Olivia Stokes in memory of her sister.

The stone and steel cemetery gateway was constructed with Bedford, Indiana, limestone dressed in New York and constructed by the Bly Brothers Stone Company of Los Angeles. The gate was designed by Stokes’ nephew, Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, in Philadelphia.

A matching set of gates along Sunset Drive was bequeathed to the cemetery when Olivia Stokes died in 1927.

At about 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 25, one of the Alessandro Road gates was struck by the driver of a white, late 1990s or early 2000 Dodge extended cab pickup in stock condition, as the vehicle exited the cemetery along with another vehicle.

After hitting the gate and knocking it off its stone pillar, the driver got out of his vehicle and observed the damage. He was contacted by a cemetery employee but got into his truck and drove away before the employee could get the driver’s information or a further description of the vehicle.

The driver is described as a white male in his late teens to early 20s, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 160 pounds, with short brown hair and clean shaven.

Both the driver and his vehicle were seen with another driver in a separate vehicle both at the time of the collision and earlier in the morning in the cemetery. That vehicle is described as a white Chevrolet or Ford, late 1990s or early 2000s stock pickup. The driver of that vehicle is described as a white male in his late teens or early 20s, 6 feet tall, 180 pounds, with short dark hair.

The suspect’s vehicle would likely have extensive damage to the driver’s side.

The city is currently awaiting a quote to repair the damaged historic gate, but the cost is expected to be several thousand dollars.

Police are seeking any information on either of the drivers or vehicles.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Todd Arnold or Redlands Police Dispatch at (909) 798-7681.

The Stokes sisters were generous with their family fortune, measured in the millions from the copper industry, publishing, banking and real estate family businesses in Massachusetts. In addition to the gates at Hillside Memorial Park, the sisters donated the Dudley Gates at Harvard and the Haynes Memorial Gates at the First Church Cemetery in Hartford, Conn. They also were known for their philanthropy to Native Americans, African Americans and impoverished residents of the South and the slums of New York City.

The sisters traveled extensively in their own railroad car until building their Mariposa home in Redlands.

Both Olivia and Caroline are interred side-by-side at Hillside Memorial Park.

PHOTO CAPTION: The historic gateway at the Alessandro Road entrance to Hillside Memorial Park is seen following the hit-and-run collision that damaged one of the gates. The right gate as one enters the cemetery was knocked off its pillar mount and damaged.

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