Man is told to destroy his motel room in elaborate phone prank

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Spartanburg County sheriff’s deputies responded to the Motel 6 on Jones Road on Sunday night after a guest nearly smashed a hole through to an adjacent room with a wrench, saying later that a man who called his room told him to free a little person trapped there.

At about 11 p.m., a hotel worker called authorities, reporting that she responded to the room after guests complained about noise. When she arrived at the room, she found a guest destroying his room with a wrench in his hand, according to an incident report.

The man later told deputies that he was sleeping when his room phone rang. The male caller, who claimed to be management with the hotel, told the man a previous guest had placed highly sophisticated cameras in the room, but not to bother looking for them. The caller told the man to unplug the TV, which the man did. He then said to remove the back toilet cover and smash the TV, which the guest also did. When the TV didn’t break, the caller told the man to throw the TV outside, and the man complied, the report states.

At some point, the guest gave the caller his cell phone number so the guest wouldn’t have to keep running back to the landline. The caller then reportedly told the man to smash the room’s mirrors, after which the guest grabbed a wrench and began breaking the mirrors. According to the report, the caller then gave the guest an “elaborate story” in which a 4-foot, 3-inch person was barricaded in the adjacent room, and the police needed the guest’s help to free the smaller man. The guest began breaking through the sheetrock with his wrench, stopping short after realizing that if he created a hole, someone on the other side would see him, the report states.

The motel employee arrived at the room, saw the scene and called deputies. No charges were filed. The employee told deputies she did not hold the guest responsible, but she wanted him to leave.