WORCESTER — A Mohave Road man is facing drunk driving charges after crashing his sport utility vehicle into construction scaffolding on Grove Street early Thursday morning.

Police said the scaffolding took the brunt of the hit at the Northworks building at 102 Grove St., but the building was not compromised.

Police went to the building at 12:16 a.m. to find a 2003 Nissan Xterra under a tangled pile of scaffolding. A light pole was also knocked down, and a nearby parking meter was bent. A large hyrdaulic lift that was part of the renovation project at the building was extensively damaged.

The driver, Jose Velez, 23, of 45 Mohave Road, was outside the Nissan talking to firefighters.

Two witnesses who had just left The Fix restaurant told police they were walking under the scaffolding when they saw the Nissan go through the construction cones set up around the lift. The two had to jump out of the way, police said; once the Nissan came to a stop the two witnesses ran to help Mr. Velez out of the vehicle.

Police spoke with Mr. Velez; the officer interviewing him observed a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Based on physical evidence, the alcohol odor, and the results of some field tests, Mr. Velez was arrested and charged with a marked lanes violation and driving under the influence of alcohol. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and was later released back into police custody.

Police closed one lane of traffic closest to the building but vehicles were being allowed through the area.

Workers from Boulevard Towing eased the Nissan Pathfinder out of the wreckage around 2:15 a.m.