Couple tricked into trashing hotel room

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Authorities say an unknown person tricked a married couple staying at an Orlando hotel with their three children to cause about $5,000 in damage.

Police say someone called the family's room Monday morning and told the wife that he was a front-desk clerk for the Hilton Garden Inn and that there was a gas leak their room. The husband,
following instructions relayed by his wife, smashed out the window of the room, broke a wall mirror and used a lamp to punch a hole through the wall. Finally, the family was supposed to throw mattresses out the second-floor window and jump to safety.

A manager, responding to a noise complaint, arrived before they could jump.

Police are not filing charges against the family, and the hotel has not asked them to pay for the damage.