I Didn't Do It

[Guest guest]

Now...Go Break The Windows

Crank caller wreaks havoc on Arkansas hotel, duping employees, guests

JUNE 9--A telephone prankster posing as a sprinkler company employee caused

havoc Saturday morning at an Arkansas Holiday Inn when he convinced an

employee to set off the hotel's fire alarm, smash windows, shut down

electricity, and break a sprinkler head that flooded the building lobby. The

bizarre incident is detailed in a report prepared by the Conway Police

Department, which, as seen below, photographed the aftermath of the June 6

incident. According to police, Holiday Inn employee Bergmann was

at the front desk early Saturday when a male caller " identified himself as

an employee of Grennel Fire Sprinkler service. " The man told Bergmann that

there was a problem with the hotel's fire sprinklers and that she " needed to

pull the fire alarm to reset them, " cops reported. " Bergmann proceeded to

pull the fire alarm at this point, causing the audible alarm. " Bergmann,

aided by a hotel guest, would subsequently follow a series of directions

from the caller that would result in about $50,000 in damages to the hotel's

windows, carpets and electrical system. Hotel guests, who were evacuated

during the incident, were allowed back into the Holiday Inn after police and

fire officials determined that the caller was an imposter. Since a similar

prank call was made to a Holiday Inn in Little Rock, Conway cops alerted

fellow Arkansas law enforcement officials that " more of these calls could be

coming in, " according to the police report. Rusty Brown, the Holiday Inn

guest who helped Bergmann follow the prankster's instructions, told TSG he

was " an innocent bystander and got involved in domestic terrorism. " Bown,

36, remarked that there was " absolute panic in that hotel, " adding that,

" all I did was make it worse. I'm not proud of breaking windows. It is very

disheartening.²

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0609092prank1.html