DeKalb County

Driver says shoddy roadwork will cost him $8K in car repairs

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A man told Channel 2 Action News his car has $8,000 in damage after a construction crew forgot to put one of those metal plates over a hole in the road.

Roderick Vaughn drove through a trench at a DeKalb County intersection and said it tore up the front end of his car.

Vaughn took cellphone video moments after the incident happened.

"It was shocking though. I didn’t know what to think. Only thing I know is that I just went into a trench," he said.

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He showed Channel 2's Justin Wilfon where he says the impact broke his windshield, damaged the frame and ripped off part of his bumper. Vaughn said the trench was left unmarked by a construction crew and he wants DeKalb County to pay up.

"It's very expensive for me to pay for it," Vaughn said.

Vaughn said he was driving down Glenwood here and made a left hand turn onto the lin and that’s when he hit that big trench.

The video shows other cars going over the trench as well and Vaughn said several of them were damaged.

He said he believes road crews working on a project at the intersection stopped working without putting a metal plate over the trench.

"They just left it like that and took off. They didn’t care," he said.

Vaughn believes DeKalb County or the construction company should pay for the damage.

After we reached out to the county, a spokesperson said in a statement: “DeKalb County will work with the project’s general contractor and Mr. Vaughn to resolve his claim.”

The county already repaired the street. Now, Vaughn hopes they’ll repair his car.