West Des Moines Firefighters Found Quite a Sight After Early Morning Alarm

A West Glen Town Center office building sustained thousands of dollars in damage after a fire-protection water valve was intentionally opened early Saturday morning and ran for about 15 minutes, West Des Moines police reported.

Damage to the office building at 5550 Wild Rose Lane was estimated to be at least $6,000, but damages are still be calculated and could go higher. The building houses Sum Total Software, Aspen Athletic Club and other businesses. The software business was the most heavily damaged and water seeped into its server room, according to police report.

When the water valve was opened, the fire department was automatically notified. Firefighters arrived about 3:45 a.m. Saturday, and reportedly found Travis William Bennett, 31, of Des Moines sitting in the fourth-floor stairwell.

He was charged with public intoxication and trespassing. Police are considering second-degree criminal mischief charges in connection with the building flooding, according to reports on file at the West Des Moines Police Department.

When authorities arrived at the scene, Bennett’s shoes appeared to be soaked, his pants were wet to the knees and his fly was open, West Des Moines Police Officer Amanda St. George reported. Firefighters who initially responded thought he had urinated from the fourth-floor stairwell, where the man claimed he was trapped.

He reportedly said he couldn’t get out of the stairwell, according to Officer Amanda St. George’s report, but claimed not to know how the water valve had come to be turned on. He said he was trying to get to a friend’s apartment in the same building.

St. George said Bennett was intoxicated and was not coherent, produced a passport when she asked for his driver’s license and then his employee ID badge, finally telling her that he had left his driver’s license at home.

Officer Kraig Kinkaid wrote in his account of the investigation that the fire-protection water valves on the third and fourth floors of the building had also been turned on, but the caps had not been removed.

The fire alarm panel sustained $2,000, damage to the drywall, carpet and ceilings was estimated at $4,000 and other damages are still being calculated as police get in touch with tenant businesses.