H3 control arm help

[Scouts Out]

took my H3 to have it inspected and a cracked winshield kept it from passing but they said all else was well. So i take it home and have the windshield repaired and decide to change the front brakes. I noticed that my top ball joint on the passanger side was shot and from the looks of it had been for awhile. This was one of the wheels they had pulled when they inspected that portion of the 3, surely when it jiggled in their hands they should have figured out something was wrong. Then when I took it to them yesterday to fix the ball joint (which I had thought was a broken shock and they claim to been "unable to replicate noise") they now diagnosis it as a broken control arm which of course is on back order. Could a broken control arm break the ball joint as they suggest?

I am not sure how that could happen.

Thanks, I hope every one has a great Holiday season