Man in critical condition after he drives car off the top of a six-story parking garage

Most of us are aware of the dangers of driving while under the influence of drink or other substances.

But those risks double when you are maneuvering your ride around a parking garage rooftop in the early hours of the morning.

Police in Santa Monica are trying to figure out how a young man managed to drive his jeep off the top of a six-story parking garage at the weekend.

Police in the coastal city west of downtown Los Angeles first responded to reports of a vehicle that had gone over the side of a parking structure, California, at approximately 12:10 a.m. early on Sunday morning. The car is said to have crashed off the garage roof and fallen onto the other side of the street.

The driver inside the vehicle, who has not yet been named, was a 20-year-old male from Twentynine Palms, California.  Police said that although he was seriously injured, he was able to speak with the responding officers when they arrived on the scene. However, the circumstances in which his car drove off of the building remain unclear.

“Due to the fact the driver was transported to the hospital and receiving medical treatment, they were unable to determine if alcohol or drugs played a factor in the incident,” the Santa Monica Police Department said in a statement.

Police have also obtained a warrant for the driver’s blood to determine if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the cause of the incident.

In spite of the man initially communicating with officers, he allegedly suffered critical non-visible injuries in the estimated 60 foot fall, and was transported to a trauma center.

A preliminary investigation showed that the driver was with two people prior to the accident but they do not seem to be directly involved.

The two people jumped from the jeep before it plummeted from the sixth floor of a Santa Monica parking garage Sunday and landed across the street with the driver still inside, officials said.