Driver Cited After Crashing Into 8 State Planters
Video of crash
A vehicle crashed early on New Year’s morning into planters that had been installed specifically to prevent trucks from reaching the sidewalk and hitting the 8 State theater marquee in Uptown.
The bumpout was added after trucks repeatedly hit the theater marquee that extends over the sidewalk while improperly parking or navigating the road.
Officers responded to the scene, found the damaged planters, and made contact with the driver, who had returned to the scene with his father after calling and saying he hit something while going to a friend’s house.
The father told police that his 19-year-old son had hit the planters several hours earlier and called him afterward. He said he drove from Hudson, picked his son up from his friend’s house, and then returned to the crash site.
The driver was sleeping in the back seat of his father’s vehicle when officers arrived. After waking him, he told police he hadn’t been paying attention and hit something on the side of the road. He initially claimed he had contacted police after the crash, but officers confirmed that no call had been made from his phone or received at dispatch.
Officers reported smelling alcohol and saw the driver’s eyes were glassy and slightly bloodshot. He admitted to having one drink several hours earlier and agreed to perform standardized field sobriety tests. Police noted two out of six possible clues during the test.
Officers decided not to arrest Dobro for driving impaired. He was cited for failure to maintain control of his vehicle and received a summons for underage alcohol use.
The report says police “chose not to administer any further tests due to the area being snow and ice-covered, and told” the driver “that I was not going to arrest him for OVI. However, given that he admitted to having a beverage while being under 21 years old, his odor, and the state of his eyes, I told him he would be receiving a summons for an underage alcohol violation, along with a traffic citation for failing to maintain control of the vehicle.”
Traffic cameras in the Uptown area showed the crash occurred at approximately 2:50 a.m. The driver was released to his parents.
He is scheduled to appear in Westerville Mayor’s Court on Jan. 21, 2026, at 9 a.m.
The Westerville News is a reader-supported publication by Gary Gardiner, a lifelong journalist who believes hyper-local reporting is the future of news. This publication focuses exclusively on Westerville—its local news, influence on Central Ohio, and how surrounding areas shape the community.
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