Car driving down Spanish Steps in Rome caught on video by hotel worker

A man in his 80s was caught on video driving a compact luxury Mercedes-Benz A Class sedan down the landmark Spanish Steps in Rome before getting stuck partway down.

A video taken by a hotel worker from a window shows the car slowly making its way down the steps early on Tuesday. The peculiar sight happened so early that the lampposts on the steps were still illuminated and crowds hadn't yet flocked to the popular 18th-century site in the Italian capital.

The man tested negative for alcohol and was cited on the spot for driving down the monument in Rome's historic center, municipal police said in a statement. Police said the man, a resident of Rome, was at a loss to explain how he had wound up driving down the famed steps.