video
Windows broken, merchandise destroyed; a Circle K store was left so damaged it was forced to close.
It wasn't the work of vandals; it was done by store employees.
Police say the employees thought they were following instructions from a security company, but it was a prank call.
It's a bizarre story that left a convenience store in ruins.
It sounds like a scene out of a movie, but it did happen.
Globe Police say the joke went too far, and it's no laughing matter.
"I couldn't believe the damage that I'd seen today, it was rediculous," said Lorraine Phillips.
The store was boarded up, but open for business.
It wasn't a force of nature, but rather two gullible employees who worked for the store.
The prankster called in and posed as Circle K corporate security, they claimed a fire alarm was going off and he instructed the employees to do certain things to stop the alarm.
"The first thing they asked him to do was discharge a fire extinguishers inside the fire, which apparently did not raise any alarms when they did that. Even though there were customers inside the store," said a spokesperson with the Globe Police Department.
The caller then went on to tell them to throw the extinguishers through the windows, which they did.
"They finally ordered them to break the computer which is kind of when the light bulb went off that this is a prank call... unfortunately it didn't go off any sooner, and the store employees caused a significant amount of damage to the store," he said.
Circle K Corporate asked FOX 10, not to run this story. Globe Police are investigating the prank, but they could only shake their heads in wonder, and wonder why they did what they did.
"I think whoever did it should be ashamed of what they had done, and whoever made that call should pay for what they did," said Phillips.
It's unclear whether both store clerks kept their jobs; police are trying to trace the call and track down the pranksters.