Hotel sustains $50K damage after prank caller gets worker to set off sprinkler system

Prank caller gets Ark. hotel to set off sprinklers

CONWAY, Ark. — Authorities said a hotel suffered $50,000 in damages when a prank caller convinced an employee to set off the sprinkler system. The caller convinced the worker Saturday he was from the hotel’s sprinkler system company, and that the system needed to be reset. He put the worker through a series of steps that resulted in the sprinklers turning on. The caller then convinced the panicked clerk to break a window.

Authorities said such pranks have happened before and hotels and other businesses have been warned to be wary. Police said a Little Rock hotel received a similar call over the weekend.

Information from: Log Cabin Democrat, www.thecabin.net