Steamboat Springs — Mike DeGregorio was a bit late to work Friday, and he had a good excuse.

The Aurum Food & Wine employee was on his way to work when he inadvertently drove his Subaru into freshly-poured concrete near a parking lot on Yampa Street.

He didn’t realize the entrance to the parking area was under construction, and witnesses say no barriers or signs were in place to mark the hazard.

“It was just like any other day going to work,” DeGregorio said. “I went to my usual parking lot. There were no barricades. No signs warning me. It was frustrating. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.”

DeGregorio said he believes his car is toast after the incident.

Witnesses also report there were no barriers or flaggers to stop DeGregorio from driving into the concrete, raising questions about how a driver was allowed to enter an active construction zone so easily.

“I don’t think this was his fault,” Backdoor Sports owner Pete Van De Carr said after witnessing the aftermath of the incident. “I feel bad for everybody.”

Van De Carr said he came out of his store when he heard people yelling during and following the incident.

“It was just like ‘holy cow,’ this isn’t good,” Van De Carr said.

Holly Boren, whose son is friends with DeGregorio, sent a photo of the incident to Steamboat Today and said it was “concerning” there were no barriers to stop him from driving in.

Boren said DeGregorio attempted to back the vehicle out of the concrete, but ended up making matters worse.

Aurum has reportedly already put up a photo of DeGregorio’s incident in the restaurant’s kitchen.

The work zone DeGregorio became stuck in was part of the redevelopment of the old Yampa Valley Electric Association building, not the city’s soon-to-be-launched construction project on Yampa.

A groundbreaking for the latter project was held Friday.

Police did not respond to the incident.

A call to the contractor who was pouring to the concrete was answered by a voicemail system Friday evening.

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210, email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottFranz10