Hotel vandalism (July 10, 2009)
DENVER -
A rash of prank calls to hotels across the country have caused hundreds of thousands dollars in damage in recent months.
We were investigating a tip that this may have happened at a Denver area hotel and that turned out to be false.
But one major Colorado hotel company says the implications of these kinds of attacks are not something to ignore.
At one hotel in Arkansas, and hotels in at least five other cities, malicious prank callers have convinced staff and guests there's an emergency and to break out windows, set off fire alarms and turn on sprinkler systems.
The prank vandals have caused the serious damage and then posted their exploits on some internet sites like this one.
"This is a very serious thing," said Kevin Mahoney Chief Operating Officer of Stonebridge Companies, which owns nearly 50 hotels across the country, "If one steps back and again calculates the damage for a prank call which effectively what we believe this is, the implications are tremendous."
Mahoney's company also operates more than 20 hotels in Colorado and though he's hoping it doesn't happen here they're on high alert with extra training.
"To prepare our associates and our staff members on what to do when they get these types of calls," he said. "We take life safety very seriously, if someone is in distress we want to react immediately."
The FBI is reportedly investigating the serial pranksters, which may explain why they haven't hit for a few weeks.
But Mahoney says this is far from a joke.
"It's trauma to a hotel guest you know you don't want to go empty out a hotel at three o'clock in the morning because of some type of an incident," Mahoney said.
If caught the prank callers face multiple felony charges.
Mahoney says their actions could create a life threatening situation.
"They are fully not aware of what the repercussions are," he added.
If you do get a call in your hotel room from someone asking you to do something like turning on fire alarms or sprinklers you should hang up and call the front desk.
At least one of the websites where people were posting about these exploits appears to be taken down, at least temporarily, which might indicate investigators are closing in.
We were investigating a tip that this may have happened at a Denver area hotel and that turned out to be false.
But one major Colorado hotel company says the implications of these kinds of attacks are not something to ignore.
At one hotel in Arkansas, and hotels in at least five other cities, malicious prank callers have convinced staff and guests there's an emergency and to break out windows, set off fire alarms and turn on sprinkler systems.
The prank vandals have caused the serious damage and then posted their exploits on some internet sites like this one.
"This is a very serious thing," said Kevin Mahoney Chief Operating Officer of Stonebridge Companies, which owns nearly 50 hotels across the country, "If one steps back and again calculates the damage for a prank call which effectively what we believe this is, the implications are tremendous."
Mahoney's company also operates more than 20 hotels in Colorado and though he's hoping it doesn't happen here they're on high alert with extra training.
"To prepare our associates and our staff members on what to do when they get these types of calls," he said. "We take life safety very seriously, if someone is in distress we want to react immediately."
The FBI is reportedly investigating the serial pranksters, which may explain why they haven't hit for a few weeks.
But Mahoney says this is far from a joke.
"It's trauma to a hotel guest you know you don't want to go empty out a hotel at three o'clock in the morning because of some type of an incident," Mahoney said.
If caught the prank callers face multiple felony charges.
Mahoney says their actions could create a life threatening situation.
"They are fully not aware of what the repercussions are," he added.
If you do get a call in your hotel room from someone asking you to do something like turning on fire alarms or sprinklers you should hang up and call the front desk.
At least one of the websites where people were posting about these exploits appears to be taken down, at least temporarily, which might indicate investigators are closing in.
