10/03/09
www.postbulletin.com
By Matt Russell
Rochester MN
A 47-year-old woman broke a motel room window after she was tricked into thinking there was a gas leak in the room.
According to Rochester police, the woman was staying at the Brentwood on Fifth, 20 Fifth Ave. N.W., and was called by someone claiming to be the manager about 2 a.m. Saturday.
The caller told her to put a wet towel under the door, unplug everything in the room to prevent an explosion and open the window by "whatever means necessary," according to police Lt. Dan Muyres. The woman couldn't get the window to slide open so she smashed the 4-foot by 4-foot piece of glass with a chair, Muyres said.
The caller told the woman he would transfer her to a Best Western motel in White Bear Lake, Minn., where the manager would have better instructions about how to handle the situation. The Best Western in White Bear Lake has had similar prank calls transferred to it in the past, Muyres said.
"Apparently, this is a prank that's going on in other areas, as well," Muyres said. He called it "quite a coincidence" that the prankster transferred the call to a motel in White Bear Lake, where the woman is from.
The woman was in Rochester for a basketball tournament and was stying in the room with two 15-year-old boys, according to police.
The motel declined to press charges against the woman for breaking the window, but it's unclear whether she had to pay for the damage, police said.
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