Dec 19, 2003 - 23:18:41 CST
A Mandan video store employee refused to obey a prank caller Thursday night who said he was a police officer and ordered her to comply with a strip search.Mandan Deputy Police Chief Dennis Bullinger said the 40-year-old female Movie Gallery employee received the prank call at about 7 p.m. The male caller said he was a police officer and was investigating the employee's involvement in an alleged theft.
The caller told the employee that she could come to the police station for a strip search, an officer could come to the store to conduct the search or another employee could conduct the search.
"I thought that was pretty dumb. I said you're not coming here and I'm not going there," the employee, who didn't want to be identified, told a reporter Friday. "While it was happening I thought it was unreal, that it couldn't be happening. As the conversation went on I was getting really angry."
Movie Gallery manager Jessie Bushee said during the 20-minute phone conversation the employee told the man she wouldn't do anything until a store manager was contacted. When the caller told her a manager was on the other line and couldn't come to the store, the employee realized it was a prank call.
"It's pretty creepy," Bushee said. "She (the employee) was really angry about it after she got off the phone."
Before hanging up, the man threatened to send a police officer to the store to arrest the employee, Bullinger said. The employee tried to trace the call without success before calling the Mandan Police Department.
Bullinger said the woman made the right choice, and people shouldn't be afraid to contact the police department if they receive this type of phone call.
"I encourage people to do that immediately," Bullinger said. "When you're going to deal with the police, you're going to deal with them face to face. People should remember that."
According to Bullinger, the police department doesn't conduct strip searches over the phone under any circumstance.
"Just be aware that there have been incidents where people have complied and its been a bogus phone call," Bullinger said.
Two employees at a Bismarck restaurant took off their clothes in May when a prank caller, who claimed he was the district manager, ordered them to comply with a strip search. In 2000, three Bismarck fast-food restaurants received similar calls and two employees stripped down to their underwear as a result.
Bullinger said they don't know who made the prank call and closed the investigation after the employee's attempt to trace the call's origin led to a recording that said the phone number could not be reached.
Bushee said she has notified other Movie Gallery employees of the incident in case the man calls again.
(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)
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