BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Bowling Green resident Brian Matuszewski said he woke up to a loud crash around 5:30 a.m.
At first, he thought it was his cat knocking some down or he was having a dream, but he finally realized what was going on.
"I heard, like, pipes falling. I figured it was the parklet," Matuszewski said.
When he took a look, the BG man's suspicions were confirmed.
"I looked out the window didn't see a car or anything. I came down here, everything was destroyed. Everything was laying everywhere," he said.
It turns out, a driver had crashed into it and kept going.
Bowling Green police say they discovered the parklet on the 100 block of East Wooster Street had been hit by a vehicle and the driver left the scene. The crash happened around 4:50 a.m.
"Sounds like police responded immediately, though, and ... by 8 o'clock they knew who it was (and) they had him detained, so great job on their part," said Bowling Green City Council Member Jeff Dennis.
After searching the surrounding areas, officers located the suspect vehicle and identified the driver as Timothy Koogan, 65, of Bowling Green.
Koogan was cited for failure to maintain reasonable control and stopping after an accident on public roads or highways.
The new parking spot patios were just installed on Friday, and are on-street dining decks that convert a single parking space into usable space for businesses.
Aside from this incident, Bowling Green business owners said they're getting positive responses from people in the community.
"On nice weather days like this, from the moment we open to the moment we close in the evening, half or three-quarters of the tables have been full," said Kelly Wicks, co-owner of Grounds for Thought.
Dennis said they do plan to restore the damaged parklet.