A prank phone call led to about $15,000 in damage to the lobby and offices at the Comfort Inn on Shea Boulevard in Fountain Hills.
According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office someone called the hotel Sunday afternoon and claimed to be a representative of the alarm company.
The told the desk clerk they needed to “reset” the fire alarm system and asked them to pull the alarm lever, which they did.
The caller then told the clerk that to prevent all the fire sprinklers from going off they needed to activate one of the sprinkler heads by breaking it. The clerk did as they were asked causing the flood.
Fountain Hills Fire Department was called to shut down the system and repair the sprinkler head. Firefighters also helped in removing the water from the building.
