Posted on 12/09/2009 8:31:08 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
An employee of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was arrested on charges of disabling the fire alarm system and damaging property in his Metairie hotel room, according to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office arrest report.
Russell Vanderwerf, 44, of Houston was booked Dec. 1 with simple criminal damage valued at $500 to $5,000 and interfering with fire prevention after staffers at the Residence Inn, 3 Galleria Blvd., began investigating a malfunctioning fire alarm system, the arrest report said. A technician who was summoned Nov. 30 tracked the alarm problem to the second-floor room registered to Vanderwerf, the arrest report said. Inside, staffers found the smoke detectors in the bedroom and kitchen-den had been removed and the horn that blares alarms was hanging out of the wall.
SNIP
Vanderwerf was taken into custody at ATF's New Orleans area field office, located at 1 Galleria Blvd. across the street from the hotel, the report said.
When questioned about the damage, Vanderwerf admitted to disabling the smoke detectors because he said they were repeatedly triggered by steam from his shower, the report said. He also admitted to putting up the plywood door but would give not other details.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
You left out the ‘good’ parts.
Note to self - don’t stay in hotels across the street from BAFT offices.
I had a smoke alarm in my commuting apartment in NYC that went off every time I tried to roast something in the oven. I had to open all the windows when I cooked a meal, and even then sometimes the damned thing went off. And, no, I didn’t burn the food.
Maintenance was unable to fix it.
On the other hand, since this guy is high up in the ATF, I’m inclined to say “guilty.”
Try getting some plywood, drywall, duct tape, drill and hole saw, and follow the directions given in the story....
Set off a smoke alarm in a hotel once before. The room was full of steam from shower and I had tool playing on the laptop so couldn’t hear the hotel manager and the engineer banging on the door.
Pretty funny. So it happens. But it was innocent.
This guy, not so sure. Taking off the bedroom door, drilled holes. Maybe inviting boys over and having them...
Not my gig, I’m afraid.
My thoughts exactly, when I read the part of the plywood replacing the door, I went to read the whole thing. That is quite a story and possibly explains where the steam came from that set off the alarms?
Nothing but a damn Obama voting queer.
He should soon be fired... sick POS.
Given that this was a BATFer, I'm surprised they bothered, and didn't just cut the hole in the door that was already there.
I used to work in the fire alarm business in the 90s and early 2000s. Most people don’t realize how advanced they have become. Each device in the system is in constant communication with the panel. If you take a smoke detector head down, it causes a “trouble” alarm at the panel and the panel readout tells you specifically which detector has stopped reporting. Example; DETECTOR/ION, RM 135 FOYER, NO RESPONSE.
Even when I was in the field, the systems could be programmed to discriminate smoke types. You don’t want a detector in a parking garage to go off with exhaust, or (when smoking was allowed) cigarettes over a bar.
I’d test the guy to see what chemicals they were using in the room.
Just another Obama voter working for the Govt and improving his resume.
he was smoking and it went off... now I wonder what he was smoking...
Now we know why they’re called BATFags.
My first reaction was that he was cooking up something illegal in the kitchen, but the article makes it sound more like a sex prop.
Why is this guy not an 0bama Czar? The Steamy Gun Czar or something.
Not mutually exclusive
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