FDLE Warns Hotels Statewide About Crank Caller Wreaking Havoc…

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE),in conjunction with Florida’s Regional Domestic Security Task Forces and business partners, has an alert system designed to bolster the ability of Florida’s businesses to protect themselves and their communities against potential threats. BusinesSafe, a counter-terrorism program created by FDLE, allows businesses statewide to receive timely electronic alerts on domestic security-related issues affecting their industry. It also provides businesses with sector specific safety tips that highlight ways to identify suspicious activity and better protect assets. Businesses are encouraged to pass on unusual activity.

BusinesSafe issued a statewide warning, today, about a crank caller wreaking havoc at a hotel, and stated that briefing employees of this potential threat could prevent thousands of dollars in damage to businesses across the country. Here is the information, in the alert, as provided by the Conway Police Department:

On Saturday, June 6, 2009, 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 breaks a sprinkler head that flooded the building lobby.

….. According to police, Holiday Inn employee Christina 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.

So, please, pass along this information to your employees and fellow hoteliers. As they say, better safe than sorry…