BREAKING NEWS! Car crashes into UAB Commons!
You heard correctly. Some time this afternoon, I would guess around 4pm or so, a car crashed into the Commons at UAB! I have no idea why someone would do this, but there is a ton of speculation going around. First I heard that it was a disgruntled employee from the Commons seeking revenge! Then I heard that it was a student who was stressed out over finals. Then as I stood around I eventually heard like 15 different stories about why this guy rammed his car into the dining hall lol. Who knows why he actually did it, but I will tell you what we do know for sure.
The facts: Some guy driving a 2 door passenger car (a Yaris) drove up onto the Green from University Blvd. and proceeded south on the Green until he got near the Commons. He pulled a U-turn narrowly missing a Prayer Tent that had been set up on the Green (looks like the praying paid off!) and stomped the gas aiming straight for the big bay windows of the Commons which overlook the Green. Well, as you can see, he was successful. When I got there, which was soon after it had happened, the tow truck was hooking up to the car to pull it out of the Commons. The damn car was half way inside! (After the crash witnesses said he simply got out of the car and sat down, he was arrested soon after.) I ran inside and got some great pictures of the inside of the commons where the car had come through. Luckily no one was hurt, but it was only by pure luck (or maybe the prayer warriors outside) that no one was injured. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking:
Update! I added 4 new pics that were taken MOMENTS after the crash occured. There is a picture of the driver and some of him being arrested. Pics were taken by Kelly Davis on her phone. It looks like her and some other students tried to talk to the guy but he just cussed at them and told them to leave him alone. What a nut case!
Official statement from UAB:
At approximately 4:15 p.m. Monday, April 27, registered UAB student Luther D. Shell drove his Toyota Yaris into the Commons on the Green dining facility on the UAB campus (900 16th Street South). No one was injured; university officials estimate the damage to the building, which consists primarily of broken glass, as in excess of $2,500.
Shell was taken from the scene to the UAB Hospital Emergency Room for examination. UAB Police then arrested him and charged him with two felonies; one count of reckless endangerment and one of criminal mischief in the first degree. Shell has been placed on interim suspension pending the outcome of a non-academic conduct review.
Shell, DOB March 4, 1982, is listed as an undeclared business major in the university’s directory.
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That is crazy! I can’t wait to hear why that guy decided to do this! Keep us posted Stone!
holy crap! that is a lot of grass and what not to drive through….by far the funniest thing i’ve seen at UAB!
Will do Sara!
well done! amazingly fast response!
hey! that’s the same guy who towed your Tahoe, stone! LOOOOOOOOOOOOL
HAHAHa I know right, I can’t believe you realized that also hahahahhahahhahahahhahahahah
I can just see this get turned around that ANDREW ran his car into the commons lol.
That is so CRAZY!! And so is your comment, Zackery Moore- what the heck?
uhhh oww, it’s about to be a shit show in the comments. here we go……
I watched the entire strange event from the chemistry department. I have no input as to why but i will add that the guy was really moving across the green in his hatchback. Maybe 35 mph…
I will say that the police response was painfully slow. 4 or 5 minutes is too long when students have scattered and pushing the “help” buttons posted on the green along the way. Thank god the guy just decided to sit down…could have been very bad and the police response time was not very comforting. Same goes for lack of notification of any kind by university officials.
Thanks for the coverage Andrew, I couldn’t find information about this anywhere on the campus website. Good job.
I just got word on why the guy did this, and I have found more pictures, some of the perp!
And to think…they spent so much effort telling people not to walk on the grass while it was growing
Hell yeah, it’s crazy. Don’t forget about your field driver who got you there stone!
good man!
wow…I’m so mad I was not at UAB today, could’ve taken some awesome “Breaking News” pics and sold it to the Birmingham News or something. Gayness….but I’m glad you cleared up the story, I am at home talking to EVERYONE who lives in blazer and trying to get the story…I guess one of em was rigt. Good Job!!!
Holy crap!
Send them this link man, it’s about all the information you could possibly ask for lol
Stone you da man.
We are the only news source in the Ham with this story and pics right now. And that ladies and gentlemen is why iloveuab.com is the shit.
My roommate texted me a picture and I totally thought she was joking. This is so crazy!
Just added another pic of the actual arrest taking place
That’s about the most interesting thing that’s happened on campus since that girl got hit by a car a yr or to ago…by a UAB cop. BTW good reporting/pictures, whoever posts on this site.
As a perfectly happy resident of UAB, I can think of several reasons why this could have happened:
1. Asphalt on the green was confused for a roadway.
2. Flashback to when the place was a parking lot.
3. Lack of parking.
4. Desire to be in a “FAIL” caption.
5. Running low on cookies, get them before they’re gone!
6. Ran out of dining dollars, tried to get in the back way.
7. Blazer? Blount? We all know that driving around after doing those things is a bad idea.
What am I missing?
Thanks theo
Wow, I’m so glad no one got hurt. No matter how pissed you were and how much caution the guy might have taken, that’s no reason to do something so stupid. People could have been seriously injured or killed since that couch area is right there at that window. Jeez.
Wow. Just wow.
And I was at dinner during this?
FAIL.
Damn, this was a shit show. Good times
Last thing I expected to see before I graduate…
Hate to break it to you, but your super secret source was wrong. He was not a disgruntled Commons employee. And thankfully he didn’t punch the gas when he turned toward the Commons, if he had he would have inflicted a lot more damage on the building, on the car and could have possibly hurt students and workers inside the building at the time.
wow, this is crazy! Great coverage, Andrew!
Zackery, I wonder why you stayed if you were so unhappy…Perhaps jeff state would have been a better option for you?
Congrats on being on NBC13!
I still can’t believe that some guy did this. There’s no way he was sober.
AdamB…. hilarious.
@Leigh C.: well i thought about the same thing, but i think he intended not run into the glass that hard and just wanted to cause some physical damage. what enforces that is the fact that he was peaceful about the whole thing (he didnt run over people and he got out of the car and sat on the side waiting for police).
that story was confirmed by more than one source
well… maybe “peaceful” is not the best way to describe it lol
More info on al.com. http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/04/uab_student_faces_felony_charg.html
Congrats on a good breaking news story, and being recognized by NBC 13. This is fine work.
Thank’s wade! And thanks for not comment spamming me any more lol! j/k
[...] Featured » BREAKING NEWS! Car crashes into UAB Commons! Mon, 27/04/09 – 17:26 | 37 Comments [...]
You know you got a lot of facts wrong about the crash… including the time.
This article sucks… you should go to http://www.insideuab.com for the real scoop.
I’ll gladly ban your IP from this site (since it sucks so bad) if you would like billy. Just let me know
Yeah, thanks billy…..I just got rickrolled
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Maybe the driver felt like I do….fed up with paying for that stupid mandatory meal plan that I never use because I live 25 miles from campus and do not want to sit around and eat fast food/cafeteria food on campus when I could be home.
I wouldn’t send you spam, no worries =D
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