Lordstown homeowner taking action over damaged garage door

Imagine walking outside to see your garage door destroyed. That's what happened to a Lordstown owner minutes before seeing an amazon package on his doorstep.

“Look what happened to our garage door. And so I called the police, and went around looking at the outside of, and I realized that there had been an Amazon delivery package,” said David Szakacs of Lordstown. “I was pretty upset about it, and I still am.”

Some of the damage to the garage door include bent brackets, broken hinges and caved in panels. Because of the amount of damage to the door, it needs to be replaced.

Szakacs said replacing the garage door is going to cost over $2,000.

Dave Novak, president of D and R Garage Doors Plus, said situations like this happen more often than people think.

“It's not even lunchtime today, we've already had three phone calls of people hitting garage doors. And then there's the whole commercial side of it with businesses that bump them all the time. So, it's quite a bit,” said Novak.

If a garage door is damaged, Novak said to stop using it, and contact a professional.

Mike Yacovone, partner with Ingram, Grimm & Yacovone LLP,  said even if the driver is on an independent contract, the business is often liable in situations like this, as long as they are working within the scope of their duties.

“It is common for employers of employees to be held what is called vicariously liable for their employees actions as long as they are working within the scope of their duties,” said Yacovone.

Even so, Yacovone says it can be hard to prove who was at fault without photo or video evidence.

“Cameras solve a lot of crimes these days. Whether they are cell phones, ring doorbell especially, you always want to be able to provide the evidence for your case whether it's civil or criminal,” said Yacovone.

If a garage door is damaged, it's suggested that you stop using the door, and contact a professional.

“Be careful, don’t just hit the button to open or close it, because most are steel today. They can just bend or fold, and collapse and fall on top of cars. We have that quite often,” said Novak.

Monday afternoon,  Szakacs told 21 News that a representative for Amazon visited his home to take pictures of the damage, and assured him they would cover the cost.