DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Months before a parking structure partially collapsed in Dearborn, trapping a 19-year-old man inside his vehicle, 7 News Detroit has learned that city officials sought an engineering report assessing the building's structural integrity.
Watch Ross Jones's video report:
The request came after the city discovered unauthorized work being performed on the parking deck in June 2025. Because the owners had not sought a permit, the city stopped the work and told the owners to submit formal plans before proceeding.
Related Story: Man rescued after being trapped in parking garage that partially collapsed in Dearborn
In November, the city says those plans were submitted, but ultimately denied until the owner provided a structural engineering report that would assess the integrity of the structure. The city says that report has not been submitted to this day.
The city did not condemn the structure, and it was allowed to continue to operate. As of Monday, city officials said they did not know when the structure was last inspected by its building department, but believed it had been at least three or four years.
Earlier Monday, 7 News Detroit spoke with Mo Beydoun, an attorney who said he represents the owner of the structure, GJ Ramz Acquisition LLC.
The company has owned the building since 2017, and Beydoun said he did not know when the structure was last inspected.
However, he said that structural engineers on the scene since the weekend have found nothing to explain the collapse, and said “it’s clear that structural integrity was completely sound."
Beydoun said the company is not ruling out human error, like a vehicle striking something inside the garage, but says that they remain in the dark while an investigation is ongoing.
The partial collapse of the parking garage happened around 8:45 p.m. on Friday.
Firefighters raced against time to save the 19-year-old who was trapped inside his car on the lower level of the garage.
"It looked like a big collapse, a pancake collapse… the second floor collapsed on the first, which collapsed on the car," said Dearborn Fire Chief Joseph Murray.
After he was rescued, the teen was transported to a local hospital as a precaution.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
