September 10, 2009

Prank caller James Tyler Markle "convinced a McDonald's worker to set off the restaurant's fire suppression system, which released a liquid from overhead extinguishers... and directed the worker to break the store's windows 'for ventilation.'"

Then he bragged about it on Pranknet and got tracked down by the authorities. 

He also did the same thing to a Wendy's, and you can listen to the audio of that prank call.
As a frantic, gasping worker busts out windows, Markle assures the man, "Sir, you're gonna be a hero." Markle, who was linked to the Wendy's call via his Skype records, has been charged with terrorizing and criminal damage, both felonies (the terrorizing count carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison).

43 comments:

veni vidi vici said...

As pranks go, it's surely a great one. But... what a moron.

Anonymous said...

A "great one?" This degenerate piece of human trash is a convicted child rapist who, in addition to such "great ones" convinced another woman to consume urine and delighted (giggling with glee) at same. He is scum and deserves as strict of a felony sentencing as possible.

Shanna said...

Some people are idiots.

Chase said...

In this day and age - where more information is available than ever before - with our great public education system and ever-diligent media:

Just how stupid did these people have to be to fall for these pranks?

MadisonMan said...

How do you convince someone to set off the fire suppression system? I know Mickey D workers aren't always the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but who is going to set off the sprinkler just because someone calls up and tells them to?

I'm puzzled.

MadisonMan said...

In other words, what Chase ended his comment with :)

AllenS said...

Alpha Liberal!! Your house is on fire!! Jump out the window!!

traditionalguy said...

The law once called this stuff Vandalism which was a type of teenage destruction of property for fun.You might say that the first push for a Juvenile Court was to insulated young men from having their a criminal record follow them into adult life. The Juvenile court came from a need to deal with "good Kids" who did this type of destruction. As long as Daddy paid the damages, the little darlings, much beloved by their mothers, would be told that they were not criminals because of their crimes commited between ages 14 thru 17, but only "Delinquent children". This Legal Fiction approach and that got them thru their High School days with a cleaned up slate. But the 18 and over is in real trouble, although the Judge may not add much time in jail for a non-violent property crime.

rhhardin said...

Imus (``This is col. kirtland of the air national guard'') ordering a 1200 hamburgers to go is the classic.

``Just a second, I'll have to check... [There's a guy here..]''

halojones-fan said...

Ann, I'm surprised that you haven't sprung to Markle's defense. I remember in the Mooninite thing where you were telling us--to paraphrase--that anyone who got upset at the pranks was an idiot who needed to chill, and that it was an act of monstrous foolishness to prosecute the guys for the Mooninite prank.

John Thacker said...

This degenerate piece of human trash is a convicted child rapist

Actually, that's a different degenerate piece of trash from the same forum.

who is going to set off the sprinkler just because someone calls up and tells them to?

It's precisely because it's so rare that people end up trusting people. If you think that it's very unlikely that someone would make such a prank call, then you might well assume that, unlikely as it seems, the call is real.

People are trying to decide which of two unlikely events is more likely.

rhhardin said...

Imus air national guard 28 seconds they used as a bumper is here.

It's since been made illegal to crank call, though you can still crank answer a wrong number, my favorite being Tom's Dead.

Imus has mellowed beyond even that, unfortunately.

rhhardin said...

Limbaugh spent his childhood as a crank caller, as he's related several times.

People would win know your bible quizzes and be sent off to this or that place to collect their prize.

That spirit shows in his radio work and makes it great.

Revenant said...

Just how stupid did these people have to be to fall for these pranks?

If taking advantage of stupid people was illegal, the Democratic Party would be banned.

phosphorious said...

"If taking advantage of stupid people was illegal, the Democratic Party would be banned."

As would Rush Limbaugh, apparently! Who knew that he was a class act from way back.

But he doesn't prey on people's stupidity today, nosiree!

Dustin said...

halojones, the mooninite thing wasn't deliberately meant to make people think Boston was going to blow up. It was just marketing.

This was harming people. It's not just the prank, it's the harm. It isn't necessary to be furious at pranks themselves, but it's good to be come down hard on actions that also include vandalism, assault, etc.

Why are you even comparing the two?

Chase said...

rhhardin,

Seeing your comments today and the ones on John and Ken from Tuesday, I am beginning to sense that - I might be going out on a limb here - you are some kind of talk radio aficionado.






Do I win anything?

Maxine Weiss said...

Althouse believes if she throws in a longer post, here and there, with more original writing......it will stave off the deluge of social networking sites which are cutting into her traffic, and which she refuses to participate in.

Althouse feels she's too cool to interact with VIPs, celebs, and other high-profile people....

(for years she's forced them to send an e-mail to prove their identity before even letting them comment here, consequently they stay far away)

Why enrich VIP and Celebs at the expense of her own blog?

What with teenagers in basements who are becoming millionaires off Twitter....

And, you clearly have a more compelling story to tell than they do, ---but yet no publishing deal, and no Drudge link....so something's wrong.

Social networking just might be the answer---your ticket.

Love,

rhhardin said...

afficianado

I listen while I work. If you want to follow along streaming,

1. Imus 6-10 Eastern WABC
2. Armstrong and Getty (4 hours of podcasts when they show up on KNEW before and after Limbaugh)
3. Limbaugh off the air 12-3
4. John and Ken KFI 5pm-10.

I'd say Armstrong and Getty are the most amusing, and that only in their first two hours, before they run out of whimsy and go to callers for material.

John and Ken sometimes are good, usually tedious these days.

Imus is an old queen these days but his interviews are the best in the business.

Limbaugh is great if he's not off on a morality kick. Those kicks run a couple of weeks at a time.

The podcast versions run about half the real time, with commercials being stripped.

ricpic said...

The sign of a real first rate wit would be instant crank answering the crank answerer.

Caller: Is Tom there?

Crank Answerer: Tom's dead.

Crank Answerer Answerer: Had it coming.

traditionalguy said...

Just thinking about this guy's ability to lead young people into doing stupid disasters to themselves by throwing out a totally false set of facts, makes me wonder if this guy wont become great leader in our government one day.

ricpic said...

I don't see Althouse as the empire building type, Maxine, but whaddaIknow?

Shanna said...

Social networking just might be the answer---your ticket.

Social Networking sites are all banned at my work. And I hate twitter. And I have no interest in talking to or hearing from "celebrities" (with the exception of Adam Baldwin).

Donna B. said...

Who is Adam Baldwin?

I'm so old my prank calls were of the "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" type.

Synova said...

"How do you convince someone to set off the fire suppression system? I know Mickey D workers aren't always the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but who is going to set off the sprinkler just because someone calls up and tells them to?"

Simple.

Fire alarms often report to an outside company who calls the fire department and monitors stuff. We are familiar with the idea for homes and businesses and cars and have seen plenty of commercials where someone from the company calls on the phone and knows that something is wrong. It's almost an *expected* service.

So you call... say something is wrong... and that the automatic fire suppression did not trigger.

The employee knows that a fire might not be apparent. It might be in the wall or the exhaust vents or up in the ceiling.

You wouldn't even have to be all that gullible to fall for it.

As for the punishment... it's not a *funny* prank. It's dangerous and it is terrorizing and it would be very good for the guy to go to prison.

(My daughter's idea for a senior prank (she's a junior) is to plant a tree... secret like... a nice big tree... but try to make it so that those who come to school the next day can't *quite* put their finger on what is different or if that tree was there yesterday or not.)

Maxine Weiss said...

I think young people are already leading themselves into disasters without any help from anyone else:

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/02/04/facebook-ruined-my-life/

Anonymous said...

John Thacker:

This degenerate piece of human trash is a convicted child rapist

"Actually, that's a different degenerate piece of trash from the same forum."

Actually, it is NOT; it is the same degenerate. This piece of human waste:

"...was once convicted of raping a five-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Texas church. James Tyler Markle, 18, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child and was sentenced in 2005 to a minimum two years in custody. According to a source familiar with the case, Markle, a minor at the time, attacked the girl in September 2004 at the First Baptist Church in Diboll (Markle lives in the Texas city; the girl was visiting relatives there). When the child, who was attending Sunday services, got up to use the bathroom, Markle followed her into the room and sexually assaulted her. A source told TSG that Markle warned the girl that he would kill her parents if she did not comply with him. After the assault, he warned the girl not to tell anyone about the attack or her parents would hate her forever."

Get that? A FIVE YEAR OLD.

See:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0806091markle1.html

Now, you might want to re-think your previously ill-informed commentary that it was some "different" degenerate.

Carry on.

Synova said...

Who is Adam Baldwin?

Anonymous said...

By the way...Markle's cohort, Shawn Powell, is ALSO a convicted sex offender whose victim was an EIGHT year old girl...RELATIVE.

"...Shawn Powell, a 24-year-old felon who also happens to be a convicted sex offender (Powell's victim was an eight-year-old female relative)...."

BOTH of these dirtbags deserve far more punishment than can be administered in this world.

Synova said...

Oh, and he's on "Chuck" and he sometimes posts an article to Big Hollywood.

Wince said...

I suppose he had to call burger joints, because Moe at Moe's Tavern is finally catching on.

And I suppose if this guy goes to prison, he will finally meet Amanda Hugginkiss and Homer Sexual.

Anonymous said...

But, he will never be able to rise to the greatness of Max Power...or, for that matter, Hercules J. Rockefeller.

Either way, the day that both of these pieces of garbage rot in hell cannot come quickly enough.

John Thacker said...

Now, you might want to re-think your previously ill-informed commentary that it was some "different" degenerate

Sorry, I knew about his partner previously arrested having a sex crime with an eight year old in his background. I suppose it was too hard for be to believe that both of these idiots would have such convictions. My apologies.

bagoh20 said...

The problem with crank calls is that with the evil ones the victim has no way to quickly verify if he's doing the right or wrong thing. Unfortunately, they work better on good hearted people.

In the two Imus ones linked, I think the victim did the reasonable thing. The "Tom's dead" is stupidly risky. There are better, even funner options.

These things are funny, but sometimes really dangerous. It's quite possible to be very funny with them without taking dangerous risks or hurting people.

Anonymous said...

John Thacker -

No worries at all. I guess degenerates tend to hang out together.

The Scythian said...

Halojones,

If you don't see the difference between the Mooninite "prank" and this prank, then yes, I'm afraid that you are an idiot. It's that simple.

PROTIP: One was a malicious criminal action with the intent of causing panic, the other wasn't.

Anonymous said...

What happened to simple pranks like these/....careful, maybe NSFW due to some language:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFSUtNEF6_U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO_vCLyi_78&feature=PlayList&p=1A50B410F24C60EB&index=10

And, here's one for Ann:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sKA16LhKSY

Anonymous said...

Another fun prank: write a swear word on someone's lawn in fertilizer.

Peter

Cedarford said...

Time for some "prank calls" to the prison he goes to.

"Dear Juan Carlos, I'm calling you from a disposable cell phone to let you know there is this guy called Markle coming who forced a Mexican woman to drink urine. How much urine do all you guys in lockup make each day???"

"Hi, is this Joe Willie Rasheed Mustafa?? Just calling to let you know that there is this guy showing up soon that said he didn't think getting black McDonald's employees to turn on a sprinkler system was no big deal because blacks are generally easily manipulated dumb animals. And that he counts on dumb black bitches doing his bidding and giving him regular blowjobs during his stay in the pen. Ohhh...sure! I'll tell you exactly what he looks like. Think of your typical smartass white punk whose ass has never been plowed by 8 Brothers. Yet."

"Afternoon, Mr. Schlindler! I got your number from your successor with the Mongols Motorcycle Club. I know this call is being monitored. Since all that unpleasantness about the meth factory, the DEA, and that shootout that I hope you are found innocent of on appeal. Just letting you know that there is a prankster named Markle who hands with a child molester buddy that I'm afraid the Mexican Mafia may feed urine and may be so deep in "nigger dick" as you Aryans say - that his eyes will be bulging soon. I'm hoping you will protect him as the white thing to do. What??? Fuck me?? Look, I know this Markle guy and I know he can put in a good word for you with the DEA to help with your appeals process...Hello? Mr Schindler?? Mr. Schindler, did you hang up??"

"Ah, is this Lucious T. Armbrister? The old Jackson State tackle who played a year in college then had to drop because you had academic troubles? Well, congrats on being Cell Block D's head bull. I'm calling because I am a close friend of James Tyler Markle on his man-child love blog. I'm calling to see if you and the other guards will look after Jim, maybe give him some man-boy love pictures to keep him happy, and show him that you are not the stupid failed wannabe cops that he thinks you all are. Mistakenly I add. I'll pay you 50 a week in cash sent by mail..What? Pile drive my MF-ing ass into the turf 2 feet deep? How about 60 bucks? You got 6 chilluns? You mean children? Any hot pics you could give to my pal Markle? No, I won't give you my name. The Feds are looking for a boy we shared a while back..and me...Come on, cash?? Hello?? Hello??"

Synova said...

C4 you are evil.

And I mean that in the best possible way.

halojones-fan said...

"If you don't see the difference between the Mooninite "prank" and this prank, then yes, I'm afraid that you are an idiot. It's that simple.

PROTIP: One was a malicious criminal action with the intent of causing panic, the other wasn't."

Hee. That's priceless. I'll make sure to try that one on as a defense. "Officer, I didn't intend to cause panic by driving at 124 miles an hour down a crowded freeway and swerving wildly. The four traffic accidents were merely other people overreacting; I mean, it's their responsibility to stay in control of their vehicles, right? I'm sure that you'll agree that my intent is what matters, not the consequences. 'bye now, and be careful driving!"

Synova said...

Someone speeding on a freeway is arrested for speeding...

Not terrorizing people.

And yes, INTENT does matter in criminal law. It's the difference between 1st degree murder and manslaughter... for just one example.

Anonymous said...

How would you respond if you saw a grown man in a Santa suit, in the middle of August? The Out-of-Season Santa Prank