Vandals wreck 20 or more cars in Kansas City parking garage near City Hall

Residents and workers parked overnight at a downtown Kansas City parking garage near City Hall awoke to the sight of shattered windows and destruction of 20 or more cars on Tuesday morning.

On Nov. 28 just after 9 a.m., Kansas City police said they responded to a call about several vehicles that were broken into at the city-owned garage, located at 1120 Oak St., according Captain Corey Carlisle, a police spokesperson. The parking garage, right across from City Hall, is connected to the Argyle on 12th apartments located at 306 E. 12th St.

A resident walking out to his car that morning found his car and about 20 others with smashed windows and shattered glass.

“I’ve never seen 20 or more cars get ran through like that,” the victim told The Star. “They completely ripped my passenger side window out and got blood all over the side of the car and inside.”

The victim said police responded to the scene quickly to gather evidence and talk to victims.

“KCPD did respond promptly and took everyone’s information and started swabbing blood from cars,” the resident said.

The victim expressed frustration in dealing with the increase in car break-ins living downtown and in a city-owned garage.

“I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen glass on the ground and seen windows just shattered downtown,” he said. “What’s more aggravating is the parking garage is owned by the city so it’s supposed to be secure 24 hours.”

So far this year, Kansas City police have reported 4,133 car break-ins throughout the city. The city has not yet responded to a request for information about security measures at the garage.

According to police, “It appears 18 reports have been taken in regard to this incident. There could be more, sometimes they go reported as property damage,” Carlisle said.

Investigators are working to identify suspects in the case, Carlisle said.

The case remains under investigation.