Gambler takes his life by driving off top storey of casino car park
By Mark Duell
1st June 2011
A 21-year-old gambler committed suicide by driving his car off the top of a casino car park.
Robert Jamison, of Lower Macungie, Pennsylvania, drove through steel railings and off the top of the Sands Casino Resort car park.
He was known by the casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but did not gamble there before driving his Ford Escort off the seventh storey.
Dead: Robert Jamison, 21, of Lower Macungie, Pennsylvania, committed suicide by driving his Ford Escort off the top of a casino car park
Wreckage: The car soared for several seconds before it hit the ground nose-first and tipped back onto its wheels, witnesses said
Mr Jamison was a customer at the casino but he did not gamble there on Tuesday before the incident happened, police told The Express-Times.
Nothing in the casino's records suggest at this stage that his suicide itself was linked to gambling, Bethlehem Lieutenant Mark DiLuzio said.
He drove his car through a railing of steel bars and cables on Tuesday at around 9am but there were no skid marks, police said.
The car soared for several seconds before it hit the ground nose-first and tipped back onto its wheels, witnesses said.
Nobody else was injured, but his vehicle crashed into the pavement only metres away from another car, which had a driver inside.
The driver was moving slowly through the car park below and looked up to see the car falling so he stopped and it fortunately landed nearby.
Big fall: Mr Jamison drove his car through steel railings and off the seventh storey of the Sands Casino Resort car park in Bethlehem
Mr Jamison was pulled out by fire-fighters but died later in hospital.
'I signed onto here for the first time in years just to see your face. The whole family is so torn apart. I will really miss you and this is just an awful thing. May you rest in peace cousin and know you are loved and will be soo missed'
Robert Jamison's cousin, 'Stacy', posts on Myspace
Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim ruled the death a suicide from serious blunt force injuries, but said that no note was found.
Police believe it is unlikely he accidentally rolled out of a space as the steel barriers are made to withstand speeds of up to 65 miles per hour.
A relative named 'Stacy' posted on his Myspace page today: 'I signed onto here for the first time in years just to see your face.
'The whole family is so torn apart. I will really miss you and this is just an awful thing.
Inside: Sands Casino Resort in Pennyslvania is a complex with 23 poker tables
'May you rest in peace cousin and know you are loved and will be soo missed.'
'The few memories we have shared from the past I will cherish for the rest of my life. I still remember where I met you, and the few years I have known you I know you had a kind heart'
Sabrina Bowes, friend
His friend Sabrina Bowes posted on a Facebook tribute page: 'The few memories we have shared from the past I will cherish for the rest of my life.
'I still remember where I met you, and the few years I have known you I know you had a kind heart.
'I will miss our random conversations here and there. Now that you are in a better place, but for now i will await for the day I see you again. R.I.P.'
It comes five weeks after a 76-year-old woman fatally drove through a concrete barrier and off the fourth storey of a car park in Los Angeles.
For confidential support in the UK call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local branch, or go to: www.samaritans.org
In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255
