A teenaged crank caller who convinced numerous North Vancouver businesses to set off their sprinkler systems unnecessarily has been sentenced to two years house arrest.
The 17-year-old Surrey resident was found guilty on 12 counts of conveying false messages by a North Vancouver provincial court judge August 8. He is prohibited from using a cellphone, drinking alcohol or contacting any of the affected establishments during that time, and cant leave his home without written permission from a probation officer.
The ruling relates to a series of incidents on Feb. 11 and 13 in which someone phoned 19 hotels and restaurants in North Vancouver posing variously as a sprinkler maintenance worker, a police officer or a hotel staff member, and attempted to convince employees and guests to trigger the fire suppression system. The targets included the North Vancouver Hotel, Nandos Chicken, McDonalds, Subway, A&W, Dennys restaurant and others.
In a number of cases, the caller succeeded, causing more than $100,000 in damages, according to police.
North Vancouver RCMP initially thought the calls had come from the United States, but some sleuthing by their technical experts and by a Province reporter revealed they had been made placed from a computer in Surrey through an Internet call provider.
Police searched the residence, seized the computer and ultimately tracked the teen to Nanaimo, where he was arrested.
The crime, prosecuted under a section of the criminal code that covers false messages conveyed by letter, telegram, telephone, cable, radio or otherwise, is rarely seen in the courts, said Cpl. Richard De Jong, a spokesman for the North Vancouver detachment.
Its unusual to get prank calls elevated to the level of criminal investigation, he said. (But) the destruction got to the place where it needed immediate action. It wasnt just a prank call anymore; it was truly a criminal matter.
It was important to chase down the culprit, he said, to make it clear to others that this type of trick can have serious consequences.
Making the occupants of a building believe theres a fire inside can cause panic and ultimately lead to injury or death, De Jong said.
The youth cant be named because he is a young offender.
