Burger King workers smash windows after prank call in Minnesota
Source: Associated Press
COON RAPIDS, Minn. -- A prank caller tricked workers at a Minnesota Burger King into smashing the windows of the restaurant to keep it from exploding, police said Saturday, mirroring similar deceptions at Burger Kings and other fast-food restaurants in other states in recent months.
Police said employees at the restaurant in the Minneapolis suburb of Coon Rapids got the call Friday night from someone claiming to be with the fire department. The caller said the restaurant could explode, so they needed to relieve the pressure. The manager and other employees believed the caller and smashed all the windows on the ground floor.
"Officers arrived and found that the manager and employees of the Burger King were smashing out the windows," Sgt. Rick Boone told the Star Tribune. "The manager explained they'd received a phone call from a male who identified himself as a fireman who said there were dangerous levels of gas in the building and they had to break out all the windows to keep the building from blowing up."
Boone said there was no immediate cost estimate for the damage. The restaurant was boarded up Saturday, and investigators were trying to identify the caller.
Read more: http://www.torontosun.com/2016/04/09/burger-king-workers-smash-windows-after-prank-call-in-minnesota
Someone placed a similar call to a Burger King in Shawnee, Oklahoma, on Thursday night, claiming there were high levels of carbon monoxide in the building. KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City reported that the window damage there was estimated at $10,000
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)If gas levels are dangerous Im going to leave the building.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)with only jobs in which thinking for yourself can get you fired - because everything - everything - is timed and described.
How could they do anything else?
For some of them it might have been just dessert. Just deserts. Just an excuse...
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)Maybe taco bell needs a few more employees.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Based on Milgram's experiments, perhaps about 60% would repeat this same behavior.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)near us all, soon. Say handing out food, no problem there.
Add this to the ones who strip an employee in the back office because the "police" called and told them to - and those were the managers. The smart ones:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_search_phone_call_scam
What if they call and say a substance needs to be put on the food before it is handed to your family?
Firing them doesn't solve the problem we created.
We could teach people it's ok to think for yourselves, but then they might quit doing what they are told. That characteristic is prized more than almost anything, it appears.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)brush
(53,788 posts)an explosion?
Check that, no one thought at all.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)They could have injured themselves or someone else. Common sense should have told them that fire department isn't going to tell people to break windows. If need be, fire department will do it themselves, not tell fast food employees do it.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,350 posts)brush
(53,788 posts)I mean we have to admit we're not talking about the sharpest knives in the drawer here.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)brush
(53,788 posts)Last edited Mon Apr 11, 2016, 10:09 PM - Edit history (1)
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)brush
(53,788 posts)Have you? If you do try it make sure you don't hit the metal window frames with whatever piece of metal you use.
Might be a good segment on the show "Myth Busters" if it were still on the air.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)Yes, if you hit the metal frame, you may or may not get sparks.
Hitting the glass will not spark; glass does not do that.
Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)liberalmuse
(18,672 posts)to find that a large number of the human population behave as if they're no better than a mindless herd of what we would describe as "less intelligent species". We're supposed to be better than that, but most of us aren't. There are only a few humans who have managed to break free of the hive mind and do something spectacular. We all have the capability to do this, but we choose not to. Why???
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)maybe it's time to remind them of that fact.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)They would have been ordered out of the building immediately, if it was a person from the fire department or any government agency.
Their lives would have been at risk. Or did they smash them from outside? Even then, if it blew, they could have been killed from flying shards of glass.
I don't know how people can be so stupid. Seriously, I am a coward at heart, and I'd still know better than to do something that stupid and that it had to be a hoax. I'd get everyone out of the building first, and then call 911. And then I'd feel embarrassed for even calling 911.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)Igel
(35,320 posts)First instinct is to say that having some basic knowledge and common sense (like knowing that information your five senses tell you) takes priority over passing responsibility to somebody else.
The first person responsible for me is me. The first person responsible for each BK employee who believed the prank caller instead of having any basic common sense is that person, not the wisdom of knowing that somebody is looking out for you.
Truly, we not only have sheep, we want them to be increasingly like sheep. The dumber, the better.
(If I were in the BK and some government employee called me to tell me that the place was filled with natural gas, I'd want to know (a) how he knew when he wasn't there, and (b) why there was no mercaptan odor. I'd expect most government employees, who just do what somebody else or some machine tells them to, to ask, "What's more captain?" At that point, I'd probably start humming "Komm, susser Tod" after losing the will to live in such a society.)
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)Yeah, we all get that way at times, but I hope this isn't how you feel all the time.
uncle ray
(3,156 posts)in some of the many successful pranks the caller stated that carbon monoxide was the dangerous gas in the building.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)do it? Fire departments aren't going to call anyone and tell them to break windows.
uncle ray
(3,156 posts)I pointed out that not all dangerous gasses have an odor.
you made the same error as the workers: you did not assess the facts in front of you before acting.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)And what exactly do you mean by "acting?"
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)Sometime you can smell the fuel burning, but generally there is no smell.
That said, there is very little explosion risk. The best thing to do is leave the building. If a prnk call said there is carbon monoxide, I would wonder how they knew and why the alarm is not going off.
I wouldnt even fault an employee for leaving the building and calling the fire department, but to start smashing windows is just stupid.
brush
(53,788 posts)be conscious to answer the phone.
But since the people, including the supervisors in this unfortunate incident, weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, that little detail wouldn't have crossed their minds as they rushed to break the windows instead of just clearing out of the building.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)Merlot
(9,696 posts)vkkv
(3,384 posts)I don't think any charge would hold up in court.
By "suggesting" that anyone break the windows due to a possible gas explosion is not technically a crime I'm quite sure.
No judge or jury is going to rule that way... I'd hope, anyway.
Is it a decent thing to do? No, but neither is inciting hate from the lies that right wing radio spews out.
fullautohotdog
(90 posts)That's a crime (if they are not a firefighter, that is. If they are, that's professional misconduct, also a crime). It will totally hold up in court.
Marty McGraw
(1,024 posts)Associated to a Bomb Scare?
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts)It's against the law to represent yourself in a way to convince other people.
2015 Minnesota Statutes
609.475 IMPERSONATING OFFICER.
Whoever falsely impersonates a police or military officer or public official with intent to mislead another into believing that the impersonator is actually such officer or official is guilty of a misdemeanor.
History: 1963 c 753 art 1 s 609.475; 1971 c 23 s 49; 1986 c 444
Copyright © 2015 by the Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Renew Deal
(81,861 posts)Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)But in Minnesota:
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=609.713
609.713
Whoever communicates to another with purpose to terrorize another or in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror, that explosives or an explosive device or any incendiary device is present at a named place or location, whether or not the same is in fact present, may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than three years or to payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=609.475
609.475 IMPERSONATING OFFICER.
Whoever falsely impersonates a police or military officer or public official with intent to mislead another into believing that the impersonator is actually such officer or official is guilty of a misdemeanor.
It's an "intentional damage" (or attempt at intentional damage) 609.595 applies:
609.595 DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.
Whoever intentionally causes damage to physical property of another without the latter's consent may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both, ...
LisaL
(44,973 posts)Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts)It's a national AP story. Some enterprising detective might make a project out of it?
How hard is it to track phone records? I don't know but I suspect it's fairly easy.
ohnoyoudidnt
(1,858 posts)There are ways to make calls online that make it extremely difficult to trace.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts)But if it was just some kids fucking around, they might not have thought about the big news it would make.
Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if they were dumb enough to put it on YouTube.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)wrong tel # thinking that you called the county health department and you are told "Yes, you can put that septic tank right on you r property line next your neighbor's well a.s.a.p." Is that person who YOU CALLED by mistake committiing a crime by playing along and making a joke? Surely, one would have to be very stupid to move on those words - just like the Burger King employees.
And either way, it is still the kid at the Burger King's word against a guy that can deny that he EVER SAID that "I'm a fire-fighter" It is still 'hearsay', no hard proof.
No jury would convict the prankster. It is not inciting terror or making threats. 'Bomb scares' laws were written different for very different reasons.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts)Not everybody can be as smart as you.
You have a point a flat out denial would make it "his word against the prankster"
Though there's a good chance the first words out of his mouth, if contacted by authorities, would be "it was just a prank." And then his goose is cooked.
ronnykmarshall
(35,356 posts)Hate that asshole.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)That made me laugh. Yep, he's a creepy dude alright.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)is why I like him. I'm a bit odd, though.
wildbilln864
(13,382 posts)Cassiopeia
(2,603 posts)The employees? well they were likely instructed to do this and if my boss was stupid enough to tell me to smash the windows of my workplace, hell give me a hammer.
The manager? well, that will look good on a resume I'm sure.
petronius
(26,602 posts)actually fooled, and how many went along for the fun of it. Thinking back to my own high school entry-level food service employment, I have no difficulty believing that some of our corporate-drone managers would have taken the bait, and it's an equally small stretch to believe that some of my coworkers would have reveled in the opportunity to smash...
Cassiopeia
(2,603 posts)I would have been quick enough to roll with it back in those days....
LisaL
(44,973 posts)So if they believed it was a prank, one would hope they wouldn't have done it.
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)just kidding
RoccoRyg
(260 posts)Of the guy who called fast food places saying he was a cop and a female employee stole money from a customer. He would then persuade the restaurant staff to molest the girl, using his "authority" to convince them that they had to do it or else they would be in trouble.
It's amazing what less-thoughtful people will do if someone with authority, or claimed authority, tells them they must. Remember the Milgram experiment?
Jamielee1991
(2 posts)To try and make a point that How much people can be brain washed by other people especially someone with authority
tblue37
(65,408 posts)as an authority, no matter how outrageous the act they are instructed to perform.
Reter
(2,188 posts)So no surprise.
surrealAmerican
(11,362 posts)We don't know the ages of any of these people. Even if we did, there would be no reason to think they represented their whole generation.
PersonNumber503602
(1,134 posts)PersonNumber503602
(1,134 posts)I had similar thoughts, but I'm not sure if that just me getting "old".
I've also known more than few bright ones.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)I've seen a lot of old people do and fall for stupid shit as well.
I'm not a millennial, but I've felt their pain when I was a member of newest generation. Everyone thinks the newest generation just can't do as well as they did......
tblue37
(65,408 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,350 posts)Reter
(2,188 posts)They at least grew up with some old technology. Newer stuff makes people lazy who have never used the old stuff. Many don't even know how to mail a letter.
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)Life in the USA is beyond stupid some days.
PatrynXX
(5,668 posts)hello there's more than just fast food workers making $7 an hour smh
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Which I think is a horrifying attitude, sadly it is one all too common among educated Libertarian-minded techie types on places like Reddit.
which is just childish bully namecalling. and whoever is stupid is really up to the person calling them stupid.
such as people still assume if you open all the windows in the house with a tornado bearing down that somehow the house will be saved from most of the damage.
(or my dad who thinks Wireless internet is way faster than Wired Internet glistening over numbers like 1300 mbps which is of course nonsense as the speed of the network is only going as fast as the ISP is allowing which for us is 100 mbps down and 50 up. think dad rebooted the router near 9 times tonight because Vudu didn't play on his wireless laptop. sigh. he can hook the wire up. just a waste . So whats stupid . break the windows out on a prank call or think the bigger the number the faster it is on the net. Hey that might be something on 220 volt vs 120 volt but not quite. Course then again if you plug a 120 volt device into a 220 volt system that might be rather silly. and I have ADD so it takes me awhile to say huh?
jwirr
(39,215 posts)history of gas line explosions in that area. So this was not easy to ignore. It had to be very scary for them.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)people telling them to smash out windows.
ButterflyBlood
(12,644 posts)Nt
dchill
(38,505 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)I hate firing employees, but I'd have to in that circumstance.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)As for the manger, that's a different story.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Sadly I'm already seeing this used by wing-nuts to make fun of the $15/hr movement, which is not only offensive because it implies that all low-pay service industry workers are as stupid as these people, but it also implies that only smart, educated people deserve a decent standard of life and that people with double-digit IQs are less worthy human beings, which is a disgusting, psychopathic mindset, something a follower of Ayn Rand would suggest.
Turin_C3PO
(14,004 posts)I love this post. I'm sick of elitist crap on DU. To start off with, many minimum wage people I've known are just as clever as people with degrees, if not more so. Second of all is it doesn't matter what their IQ is, they're human beings deserving respect. My cousin has an IQ of 88 and he's one of the best people I know (a Bernie supporter also!). IQ is the only genetic trait that's it allowed to be bigoted against on this website.
Ford_Prefect
(7,901 posts)...And all of the people some of the time?
Umbral18
(105 posts)Slathering gravy all over their already soggy fries!
LisaL
(44,973 posts)Umbral18
(105 posts)rgbecker
(4,832 posts)I've read about plate glass repair/installer companies driving around and randomly shooting business window fronts with a BB gun to drum up some business when things got slow.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)was several years ago, I forgot the details.... Every employee should be taught in an emergency contact 911 before you start taking directions from a voice on a phone.
cannabis_flower
(3,764 posts)LisaL
(44,973 posts)The mind boggles.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)If they were that would make it easy for an employee who go a call like this to know when to tell the caller to stuff it.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)5. Compliance...
Compliance is a 2012 American thriller, based on true events, written and directed by Craig Zobel, and starring Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, and Pat Healy. The plot focuses on a prank caller who pretends to be a police officer and convinces the manager of a fast-food restaurant that one of her employees committed a crime, and gets her to carry out intrusive and unlawful procedures on the employee. It is based on the strip search prank call scam that happened at a Mount Washington, Kentucky McDonald's restaurant in Bullit County. Dowd's performance as Sandra was very positively received and won her the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.
A message displayed before the action starts refers to the Milgram experiment, and says that the story, inspired by real events, is so shocking it is hard to believe, but that nothing was exaggerated.
...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compliance_(film)
Strip search phone call scam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_search_phone_call_scam
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1018&pid=856427
In addition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
It's not "millennials" or any other class of people that are cowed by authority figures the same as any group that is put in charge can abuse their power. It is the nature of humans.
The best way to keep these things from happening is to teach children to have critical thinking skills, to use those skills to logically assess situations, and that blind compliance is irrational. The problem is that police today tend to consider those steps as a challenge to their authority and that they need quash any non-compliant behavior.
jayfish
(10,039 posts)This isn't the DU I signed up with. A place that attacks the working poor for following the orders of authority figures and management?
Nope...
csziggy
(34,136 posts)I grew up in the 1960s when the mantra among teens was to not trust authority. Now kids have to be lockstep to be successful in school - even or even more so in Christian schools, charter schools and home schooling.
Occupy and Black Lives matter are wedges that I hope will open people to less acceptance of mindless authoritarianism but the stakes keep getting higher and too many people are getting killed for not giving instant compliance.
As for how DU is reacting - it is part of the compliance to authority. Bystanders are expected to denigrate the victims for not having the perfect response, especially if they are the victims of scams. Plus I believe we have a good number of trolls at any time especially during campaign season.
anigbrowl
(13,889 posts)Any time I question things about the Occupy movement I get piled onto by people who are not prepared o tolerate any critique of it whatsoever. Frankly I think it's just as ideological as any existing power structure, and I think there's a good argument to be made that it was dysfunctional by design.
When I saw the OP, my first thought was "What kind of sociopath would pull a prank like this?" To my dismay, most of the other posters in this thread instead chose to express contempt for the victims of the prank, whom they apparently consider to be their social lessers.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,350 posts)... now, which standardized multiple-choice test measures those skills?
WhiteTara
(29,718 posts)tabasco
(22,974 posts)Not funny.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)There isn't going to be hordes of people standing in line.
I call it Ptomaine king.
I'm likely to die at a McDonald's, but at least it won't be of food poisoning.
truthisfreedom
(23,148 posts)I had myself a Whopper. Not too bad, either.