About 20 people had to get up at 3 am Friday because of a false fire alarm at a student living community.
Bart Humphreys with the College Station Fire Department says 18-year-old resident Jackson Wright was arrested for turning off power in about ten units at the Callaway Villas on Marion Pugh Drive, which triggered the fire alarm.
Police say Wright claims he did it because he was surprised at how accessible the breaker boxes were, but did not intend to set off the alarm.
Humphreys says most people don’t realize that if you turn off the power to a fire alarm system, it’s going to affect the system, and that systems have back-up batteries for 18 hours if the power is lost.
He says usually, turning off the electricity will not set off the fire alarm, but it will send a signal to the monitoring company.
Wright was arrested on charges of criminal mischief, and last month, he was arrested for theft of property.
Click below to listen to Information Officer Bart Humphreys visit with WTAW’s Kat McMullen.