On Wednesday, Oct. 11, Associated Student Government President Ben Linzey left a meeting around 10:30 p.m., returning to his silver Jeep Patriot in the small commuter lot north of Garfield Hall, discovering that the entire back windshield had been shattered.
The shards of glass clung onto the frame, and the damage seemed to stem from one point, toward the top middle of the window. In an interview, Linzey speculated that this point of impact seemed to have come from a sharp object.
Since the lot is farther away from buildings than most, and given Linzey’s status as ASG president, it is possible that the act was done with malicious intent. Linzey mentioned that he had his laptop among other valuables and possessions in the back of the car, which possibly could have prompted a passerby to attempt thievery. However, nothing was missing.
“This was not necessarily on purpose,” Linzey said.
Neither a specific individual nor a possible motive came to mind. If the damage was unintentional, perhaps the projectile was a rock kicked up by a reckless driver. However, such an instance could have been prevented or made less complicated by the presence of security cameras in the particular parking lot.
Upon filing the police report, Linzey inquired if there was any security camera footage that might show the perpetrator or projectile that caused the damage. The particular commuter lot behind Garfield Hall, as well as several other newer lots, does not contain any security cameras.
Older paved lots, such as the one next to the Fine Arts building, contain several cameras atop the light posts. The only nearby cameras were in the common areas of Garfield Hall, the footage of which the campus police reviewed to no avail.
Linzey is currently tasked with paying for the damage out-of-pocket. If students or faculty witnessed or heard about the event, they are encouraged to talk to campus police regarding any relevant information.
In the meantime, if the damage was intentional, Linzey encourages anyone with an issue to come to him directly and open up a dialogue in order to “talk it out” rather than resorting to destruction of property.
“Hopefully it doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Linzey said.
