The recent death of a teenager in a fall from a Gilbert parking garage has amplified community concerns about what teens are doing in the free garages — and what the town will do about it.
Vocal community activists about teen violence in the wake of San Tan Valley teenager Preston Lord’s homicide last October in Queen Creek have taken up the cause of the Gilbert garages, demanding more active monitoring, arrests and turning the garages from free to paid to discourage illicit teen activity.
But none of that may have changed the outcome for 19-year-old Mubasher Masood, whose death May 20 unfolded in less than a minute.
Masood and friends arrived at the top of the Hearne Way Garage, 30 E. Vaughn Ave., Gilbert, in the town’s Heritage District, with no other vehicles present. The car parked, Masood got out, tried to lift himself on top of a 4-foot retaining wall, immediately lost his balance and fell about 56 feet to the ground — all within 25 seconds, Gilbert Police Officer Levi Leyba said in an email.
Police got the resulting 911 call at 11:09 p.m. and arrived inside a minute to render aid, Leyba said, but Masood died at the hospital from his injuries.
A police investigation alleges Masood was intoxicated when he tried to lift himself on to the retaining wall.
But Lord activists foreshadowed the incident in speaking to Gilbert Town Council in April when reporting to council what they were seeing in the Heritage District garages.
“What is going on in that garage?” Ann Doucette said April 17. “I have a fear once again that a teen will have to get hurt for any action to take place. Please, don’t let that happen.”
When it did happen, Bridget Vega said the town had “blood on its hands” while speaking at the council meeting the day after Masood’s death. She said his death was the direct result of the town’s lack of action on the garages.
“We demand an external investigation,” Vega said. “It should never be profits over people.”
Vega repeated previous calls for paid parking and upgraded cameras.
“The officers have stated, and there is on the body cams of them stating the fact that there (have) been multiple kids on the ledge and they're surprised that they hadn't seen more deaths,” she said. “So that's actually concerning seeing that come out of your officer’s mouth.”
Both Heritage District garages have video surveillance cameras on each level, which are and have been in working order, and the town is upgrading them from low resolution to “high traffic area resolution,” Leyba said.
However, the cameras are not actively monitored and do not have facial recognition or license plate readers, he said.
Doucette and Vega are part of a group that has been monitoring the garage weekend nights for about three months when they started hearing stories of what happened there.
Doucette wondered why police do not more actively monitor the garages.
“It doesn't matter if he's intoxicated yet or not, it should be monitored,” she said about Masood’s death. “And why is a 19-year-old drinking down at the garage? We've been reporting it for months now. I mean, they do drugs there, they drink, there's sex trafficking, there's all kinds of stuff that happens.”
Leyba said police continuously check on the Heritage District parking garages, “but we do not have the ability to be in these locations 24/7.”
He further noted the bike team is based out of the Hearne Way Parking Garage and that team, along with the patrol teams actively patrol both garages and the Heritage District. In addition to the normal patrol activities, the Police Department has placed additional resources in the Heritage District and parking garages to deter crime and ensure the safety of visitors.
But Doucette said police did not step up its activity in the garages until her group publicly pressured police to do more about the situation. She also said the activity there is why they have asked for the town to make the parking paid.
“Put the arms up,” she said. “It would prevent the teens coming in there and just hanging out.”
The free garages have been seen as a boon to economic activity in the Heritage District, making parking far more accessible than it otherwise would be or in comparison to other Valley downtown districts, where parking is often a challenge.
Vega suggested that businesses could validate parking for their customers.
Leyba said the town has evaluated the pros and cons of paid parking and underwent a parking study in 2021. It used a consultant to help put together a master plan for Heritage District parking.
Doucette said her group has been active in talking to officers in the Heritage District and reporting what they see in the garages.
Leyba said police are committed to maintaining an ongoing and transparent, open line of communication with the community, “including with those who have expressed concerns about activity at our parking garages.”
“Community feedback can be helpful but we strongly discourage individuals from potentially placing themselves in a situation which can jeopardize their well-being,” he said.
Police ask that any suspicious or concerning behavior be reported to the department by calling 480-503-6500 or 911 in emergency situations.
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
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