Vehicle driven off roof of Evansville casino parking garage onto nearby conference center

(This story has been updated with new information.)

EVANSVILLE − The "why" is still a mystery, but the "what" is known for sure: A man drove a vehicle off the roof of the Bally's Casino parking garage in Downtown Evansville on Monday morning, slamming through the roof of the casino's adjoining executive conference center.

That's according to officials from the Evansville Fire Department and Evansville Police Department, who responded to the incident shortly before 9 a.m.

The driver of the Ford SUV was injured, officials said, and was taken by ambulance to nearby Deaconess Midtown. His identity was not immediately released by Evansville police.

There were no injuries reported inside the conference center.

The casino parking garage has seven levels, including the ground floor. The vehicle dropped some 40 feet after going off the top of the garage onto the second floor roof of the conference center.

“The vehicle actually landed upside down onto the roof of the executive conference center," said Kim Garrett of the Evansville Fire Department. "(The car) then fell through and is now sitting on the second level of this conference center in the elevator lobby, where you get on and off the escalators.”

“I did have a report that (Bally’s security) had asked this person to slow down prior to this incident," Garrett said. "Someone with Bally security was in the parking garage on the second floor and told him to slow down. He was just circling around on the second floor.“

The driver apparently then drove up to the seventh floor. There is no evidence of a second person in the car, Garrett said.

Eric Gentry, a battallion chief with the Evansville Fire Department, said a crane would be brought in Monday afternoon to lift both the vehicle and a large concrete slab out of the conference center.

"The slab went down with him," Gentry said. "It's underneath the vehicle. Once that gets lifted out, (things) will be reassessed but right now the conference center is closed off until further notice."

“The crane is going to set up on the roadway (Riverside Drive or First Street) and then extend over the rooftop and pick the car up and pick the concrete slab up and bring it out," Gentry said.

Koorsen Fire and Safety was hosting a conference at the site for building inspectors and firefighters about fire alarm systems and sprinkler systems when the incident occurred.

They came out of their conference and rendered aid. Koorsen officials helped get the building's systems shut down. Koorsen is the fire protection company for Bally’s.

Off-duty firefighters from Kentucky pulled the man out of the car, an Evansville Police Department spokeswoman said.

EPD Sgt. Trudy Day said she believes the driver will be charged, but that "may take a few days" since the driver is receiving medical treatment.

“It caused extensive, as you can imagine, extensive damage (to) the building," Day said. "There’s water everywhere.”

“(Investigators are) working through video and things now, but it does appear to be – it was pretty intentionally driving pretty badly. I’m not sure what all was going on with the guy, but that was not just an oops. It took effort. I’m not sure if he was drunk or not. I know that he’s currently being treated at the hospital, so we’ll know that soon.”

Bally's posted to its Facebook page that the casino remained open on Monday, though the parking garage was "temporarily closed."

"Guests should use Legend's Hotel surface parking and Legend's Hotel casino entrance for access," the post stated.

"We are currently investigating an incident involving a vehicle that drove off the seventh floor of our parking garage and will provide updates as necessary," Bally's officials said in a statement. "Upon initial review, the incident appears to be the result of driver error. There are no signage or structural issues with the parking garage. The safety of our guests and staff remains our top priority."

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Car driven off roof of Evansville casino