A mystery accident in the troubled UMB garage has students and administrators scratching their heads.

According to an eyewitness, three cars in the Lower Level Garage were struck with masonry and a hefty 12-foot window screen on Tuesday, October 14. The anonymous tipster said, “There was junk all over them… three cars had this debris on them. I walked right by it.”

“One of them, a really nice car, looked squished-like a bug.”

She said when she returned the next day, the cars were gone and the wall had been repaired. “They had it all fixed up…I don’t know what happened to the cars.”

There was no record of any complaints at the Public Safety office. Director Phil O’Donnell said that was not unusual, stating, “If a car is damaged in the garage, we refer them to Parking and Transportation to handle all the insurance. They don’t always file a report.”

A close look at the site of the accident a week after it allegedly occurred found the screen, a 12-foot by 4-foot wire mesh in a frame made of two-by-fours, lying on the ground, covered in leaves, under the bumpers of three parked cars. The brickwork around the window where the screen is normally bolted in looked fresh and showed no boltholes or cracks.

Calls to the Parking and Transportation Department ended up at the offices of Chuck Coyne. He explained, ” The new bricks were part of the retrofit. The screen was taken down and placed on the ground. It’s been there a long time.” Coyne was dubious about damaged cars or crumbling walls. “We don’t have any report of it.”

“I’d be hard pressed to say [the accident reported by the student] was true.”

The window in question is just to the right of the exit from the Lower Level into the outdoor auxiliary parking behind the Wheatley Building.

Did an outside contractor cover up a boo-boo? Or was it UMB gremlins? Inquiring minds want to know.