"Officers arrived and found that the manager and employees of the Burger King were smashing out the windows," Sgt. Rick Boone told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "The manager explained they'd received a phone call from a male who identified himself as a fireman who said there were dangerous levels of gas in the building and they had to break out all the windows to keep the building from blowing up."
"The manager was frantic and actually believed the building was going to blow," Boone said.
Witness Jason Hoberg captured video of the workers smashing the windows and posted it to YouTube.
Coon Rapids police issued a statement saying emergency services "WOULD NEVER call a residence or business to ask them to take action of any kind."
"Calls for service come into the 911 dispatch system from someone calling to report a problem, and only then do police, fire and emergency responders respond. In the event you receive a call from someone claiming to be from a police or fire agency asking you to take some kind of action, consider it a prank and call 911 immediately."
Police said they are investigating the origins of the hoax call.
A similar prank led employees at a Morro Bay, Calif., Burger King to smash out the windows of their restaurant in April. Police said there have been similar incidents reported elsewhere in the country, including Oklahoma.
