Columbia man causes $100k in damages to Mizzou Arena
It’s time we stopped avoiding the elephant – er VW Passat – in the living room…er arena. On Sunday morning, a Columbia man’s joyride delivered $100,000.00 of damages to Mizzou Arena.
While Missouri was recently awash in student athletes being hit with various possession charges, and another who threw a fit that he won’t interview with local media, another man decided to hit the road and make a little news for himself, too.
While the news was a little shocking, we appreciate the effort taken to give us a little something to write about during a brief slowdown in big stories.
Around 7:00 on Sunday morning, Missouri University Police were dispatched to Mizzou Arena for a reported break-in, but this was no smash-and-grab. In fact, to our knowledge, nothing was actually removed from the facility.
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At about 4:00 Sunday morning, a Columbia man drove his Volkswagen Passat through a closed gate, hit some golf carts, drove through a large roll-down door, and onto Norm Stewart Court, where he made some marks on the court and left the facility, literally, through the arena’s media gate.
After identifying the vehicle and the actor, police reached out to Nathaniel Conant, a recent Mizzou grad, and current SEC Network events staff employee.
Conant later surrendered to MUPD, where he was charged with felony counts of Suspicion of Second-Degree Burglary and Suspicion of First-Degree Property Damage.
I’m interested in the follow-up, about what was going on in Conant’s life at that time, that he believed that this was such a great – certainly once-in-a-lifetime – opportunity. If I didn’t know any better, I would think this was a kansas news bit.
Next: Tigers' backfield better than most in SEC
Conant’s timing couldn’t have been better though, as it was later announced that Missouri will play a game on the road against Utah later this season on Nov. 19.