Man Falls to His Death in Downtown Parking Garage

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Feb 13, 2011 7:30PM

A man fell three stories to his death in a downtown parking garage located at 171 North Wabash Avenue yesterday night, as he was on his way to the Anita Baker show at the Chicago Theater. The 63 year-old man got on and fell off on an employee "man lift," which is essentially an open-air shaft that is mainly used by employees and valets.

Authorities are unsure what prompted George Davis to jump on the lift, bypassing the warning sign next to the lift to prohibit non-employees from using it:

Police aren't sure why Davis got on the lift, which officials said was normally blocked off and also had a sign which warned the public not to use it: "We have no idea why he got on," said an officer at the scene late Saturday.

A valet who used to work at the garage said the lift was normally locked and blocked by a gate. There are stairs but no public elevator in the garage.

The sign that warned customers of the garage to steer clear of the lift was in clear view, and it remains unclear what prompted Davis to go ahead and use the lift.