Monday afternoon, a man fell from the parking structure at South Fourth Avenue and East William Street. He was declared dead at the scene, Ann Arbor Police Department officers confirmed.
AAPD Lieutenant Matthew Lige said the investigations have led AAPD to believe there was no foul play, but it is still too early to definitively say one way or another.
“We have a 56-year-old man that fell to his death we believe from the parking structure,” Lige said. “We have no suggestion that this is foul play.”
In an email to the Daily Tuesday, Lige wrote the death is being ruled as a suicide and reaffirmed that no foul play is suspected.
“Detectives have confirmed the identify of a 56 year old man from Pittsfield Township who died as a result of injuries sustained from a fall off the 8th floor of the Republic Parking structure,” he wrote. “The name of the deceased is not being released at this time. Detectives have determined that the man suffered from a form of depression and had attempted suicide in the past. No foul play is suspected and this is not being treated as a criminal investigation. Preliminary finding is that of a suicide.”
Early in September, a body was discovered at the same parking garage. It was not immediately declared whether it was a suicide or a fall, but later the death was declared a suicide.
Following the Monday death at the parking deck, City Councilmember Chuck Warpehoski, D-Ward 5, tweeted a screenshot of an email with Howard Lazarus, city administrator for Ann Arbor.
The screenshot shows an email from Warpehoski to Lazarus telling him they must “get some fencing up” to prevent more falls from the parking structure. Lazarus responded, agreeing something should be done.
Lige said he was discouraged by Monday’s events.
“I’m frustrated by the volume of deaths from parking structures in the city of Ann Arbor,” he said. “I think it’s safe to say that we’re all frustrated.”