Crank callers targeted 10 more North Vancouver restaurants overnight on Sunday, convincing employees at five businesses to set off their sprinkler systems.
In all, more than 20 hotels and restaurants have received prank calls in the last three days from someone posing as a fire marshal or a sprinkler maintenance man. In each case, the caller tried to convince an employee or hotel guest to take steps that would set off the business's sprinkler system.
The restaurants targeted on Sunday were all "sit-down-type" establishments, RCMP Cpl. Peter DeVries told ctvbc.ca. Employees at Browns Socialhouse and White Spot on Lonsdale Avenue fell for the trick.
Calls on Saturday night to a number of fast-food restaurants led to serious water damage at a McDonald's on Marine Drive and a fire truck had to be dispatched to a Subway down the road.
Similar calls have also been made to a number of local hotels, where the prankster will ask to be patched through to a randomly supplied room number.
At this North Vancouver hotel, the prankster convinced guests that there was a gas leak and they needed to activate the sprinklers to prevent an explosion. The sprinklers caused damage to eight rooms.
Manager Steven Chan told CTV News that the prankster is still calling the hotel, attempting to pull off the trick again.
The calls can lead to hundreds or even thousands of dollars in repairs if the prank is successful.
North Vancouver Mounties have assembled a team to investigate the calls, which appear to originate from a California area code. However, investigators believe that the pranksters are using an internet phone service to mask their location.
"It's through Skype, and that makes it virtually anonymous in terms of the location where it's coming from," DeVries said.
Police haven't determined how many people are behind the crank calls.
"We believe that at least a couple are associated to the same person, based on similar discussions that were had between the victim and the person who was making the calls," DeVries said.
He added that whoever is responsible for the calls could face serious criminal charges, including public mischief and mischief to property, a charge that carries a maximum 10-year prison term.
The flood of calls prompted firefighters to call 150 restaurants in the City of North Vancouver to warn managers and employees about the calls.
"[North Vancouver City Fire Department] staff don't phone and ask people to test their sprinkler systems over the phone," Deputy Fire Chief Dave Burgess said in a release. "Testing is done on-site by certified technicians."
