KNOXVILLE, TENN. — The Knoxville Police Department asked for help identifying a driver who left the scene of a single-vehicle crash on the Gay Street Bridge in Knoxville, Tenn., early Saturday morning, according to the department. The Gay Street Bridge currently functions only as a pedestrian bridge and is blocked off to vehicles.

Around 3:20 a.m. Saturday, a black Nissan drove through bollards on the north side of the bridge, damaging trees and city property, according to the department. The driver continued onto the bridge and struck barriers on the south side, the department said.

After striking the barriers, the driver exited the vehicle and fled the scene, according to the department. The vehicle entered the bridge from the north side, passed through the bollards intended to block vehicle access, and traveled the length of the bridge before coming to rest at the south-side barriers, the department said. The bridge's bollards and barriers are in place specifically to prevent vehicles from accessing the pedestrian-only span.

The department has opened a hit-and-run investigation into the incident. Witnesses with information about the crash are asked to contact the department's hit-and-run investigator at (865) 215-7370.