SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Offbeat

July 9, 2009

Prank leads Fla. couple to trash hotel room

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a prankster persuaded a married couple to smash their Florida hotel window after falsely telling them the room had a gas leak.

Police say a person claiming to be a front-desk clerk at an Orlando hotel convinced the couple to break a wall mirror and use a lamp to punch a hole through the wall. The couple also threw a mattress out the window, but a hotel manager came to the room before they could jump.

The manager told the couple there was no gas leak. The manager also said employees had received a memo from the hotel's corporate office warning that dangerous pranks were being pulled at hotels in other states.

The prank cost about $5,000 in damages. Police say the couple were not arrested Monday because they thought it was an emergency. The hotel has not asked them to pay.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

Local News
  • Man dies after leaving moving vehicle in Boxford

    State police reported this morning a man has died after leaving a moving vehicle on Interstate 95 in Boxford.

    May 30, 2012

  • Man dies after leaving moving vehicle in Boxford

    State police say a man has died after leaving moving vehicle on Interstate 95 in Boxford.

    May 30, 2012

  • Parking plan up and running A new era in downtown parking began today.
    The hourly rate for city garages has been slashed dramatically, the first of a wave of changes aimed at opening up spaces in the heart of a congested downtown by moving employees and other long-term users to the garages and the streets and lots on the perimeter of the core city.

    May 30, 2012

  • Mayor unveils $103.4M budget BEVERLY — Calling it "perhaps the easiest budget to put together that I've ever faced," Mayor Bill Scanlon last night presented a $103.4 million spending plan that calls for more money for street paving and has enough left over to establish a rainy-day fund.

    May 30, 2012

  • 120525_SN_DLE_BFGRAD3.jpg Photo Gallery: 2012 Graduations Images of the Class of 2012 for North Shore high schools, colleges and universities. Updated throughout the graduation season.

    May 20, 2012