Hotel Staff Calls The Cops On Woman’s Colleague After A “Prank” Where He Pretended To Be A Creepy Killer

A lonely overnight shift at a new hotel job takes a terrifying turn when a mysterious figure appears in the dark parking lot, leading to a chilling phone call that sends shivers down the spine. What started as a quiet night quickly escalated into a heart-pounding encounter that left one employee questioning everything.

I (25f) just started this new job as a front desk clerk at a hotel. I work the overnight shift. I usually have a coworker (30sM) with me, but he never really spoke to me. A few nights ago was my first night alone. At around 2 AM, I noticed a person in the parking lot (you can see the lot from the front desk.

The lighting in the lot is terrible, so you don’t really see faces until they get close to the lobby door.) just standing there not moving for about five to ten minutes. I thought this was strange, and of course it creeped me out. After about 10 minutes of them standing there, they moved, I guess to call the front desk, because he moved his hand to his ear and the phone rang.

I picked up and on the other end I just heard “5 buried. None found.” in a low voice, and then they hung up. At this point I was terrified, so I ran to the back room and called 911. I explained to the operator about what had been going on and they sent a couple cops to the hotel.

When they arrived, one cop was talking to the person outside and the other one was at the front desk talking to me, telling me that the person outside was claiming that he also worked here. I was confused but also admitted I hadn’t seen the person’s face, just the silhouette.

At this point the other officer and the person from the lot come in, and it turns out to be my coworker, and he was upset, saying he would have never pranked me if he knew I was going to call the police and try to get him arrested. I didn’t go through with pressing charges, but I did tell my manager what happened the next morning.

It’s been a few days now and I guess he told other coworkers what happened, and now no one is really speaking to me and giving me a bit of an attitude. I feel like I took it a bit too far with calling the police… AITA?

Here’s how people reacted:

Biteme75

NTA. Your co-worker was trying to scare you on purpose, and now he’s angry that you did what any reasonable person would have done under the circumstances.

CrimeAid

🚩 🚩 NTA but this guy is bad news. He’s in his 30s and spends his night off at TWO AM showing up to his job to prank his younger female coworker?! He should be fired. That’s harassment and it’s fucking creepy and weird not to mention unprofessional.

MissionRevolution306

NTA- he should have been fired, immediately.

LunaMissions0504

No. NTA. You didn’t know it was him, so you haven’t done anything maliciously. Unlike that absolute tool, who for some reason has decided it would be a great idea to scare the living daylights out of a young female, stuck working alone. What else were you supposed to do? Laugh it off? Please. You could have been in very real danger, and you acted accordingly. He’s the AH. Your coworkers are AH. You are not

NohrianGremlin

NTA, what did he expect you to do?

andhernamewaslola

NTA! How fucking terrifying?! That’s not a ‘prank’ that’s some fucked up BS. A prank is ordering pizzas or wanting to book a whole floor in the hotel or something silly. Silly being the key word, not homicidal horror like that AH did.

chiropterra

NTA, that’s some serial killer bs. You aren’t friends, he doesn’t know your history, and doing that to a girl working the night shift alone for her first time is intentional. He knew what he was doing and it’s gross.

Royal_Case_4776

NTA As a woman who has worked plenty of night shifts, i would have called the police too. I’m not investigating some creepy asshole in the carpark, that’s what the police are for. You did the right thing imo and your coworker is an arsehole.

Kris82868

NTA. I have no clue what this coworker thought your proper response to his asinine actions should have been.

doloreschiller

agree with everyone here so far — NTA. first of all, it’s his night off and this is his activity of choice? take up knitting or something, bro. not “menacing women in the middle of the night then being pissed about the consequences.”

what if a *guest* at the hotel had seen this? it doesn’t matter if you did or didn’t see his face. you did what you SHOULD have done in this situation–especially with the phone call. that’s menacing, mean, and messed up. i’ve stayed at many many hotels alone on work travels and one time, late at night, i was on my balcony which faced a parking garage and i noticed these two guys taking photos of me. i asked them to stop; they didn’t. so i called the front desk and the gentleman working that night took care of it — by calling the cops and also standing outside facing the garage in the meantime. i was so appreciative even though i felt bad about the cops coming (which I SHOULDN’T HAVE and NEITHER SHOULD YOU!).

my point is, as the front desk clerk, you’re responsible for guest safety but you can’t take care of your guests if your own safety is in jeopardy, and regardless of whether or not you have in-house security, you did the right thing. he’s an idiot and an asshole and so is anyone you work with who thinks you were in the wrong. again, as a guest, i’d hope that the people i call for help would do exactly what you did.

if there’s no harm, then there’s no foul — but better to be safe than sorry. i fear what your coworkers would have done in the situation i was in.

CrimeAid

Also, file a complaint with HR or someone against him. Put it in writing, put it in an email- start a paper trail. This will only help you later if anything else comes up. His behavior is not Ok and he really should be fired for harassment.

Overthinker19950125

NTA. That’s freaking terrifying. Why wouldn’t you call the cops???
You would’ve been the AH if you’d called AFTER you found out it was a prank but you called DURING the prank. Your coworkers suck

PoopKnifeTwinkleCunt

Definitely NTA

You can’t scare the hell out of people like that and expect no repercussions.

TheFluffiestRedditor

A prank ends with all people involved laughing. That was not a prank, that was harassment. You responded wholly appropriately.

RainPups

NTA

You’re a woman working the Night Shift alone I sure hope you’d call the police if something that sketchy was happening

Also like….. pranks from friends are one thing but you’d barely even spoken to the guy

Top_Detective9184

NTA. Let’s make a young woman at night afraid and feel uncomfortable, yeah real great prank. That is so childish and as a guy he has no idea the level of fear we are instilled with. We can’t really afford to not be cautious or assume things are jokes, that’s how women get kidnapped, killed, or assaulted.

Ok-Winter-4856

NTA at all. That dude is and tbh it was 10000% not okay or funny.

emperorduffman

NTA, seriously wtf. This guy should have been fired for this. It is absolutely not ok . Also pissing about instead of working. What ever you do don’t hesitate to call the cops if another situation like this arises. It could be a prank but it might not be. Plus if it’s another prank the cops will set them straight.

lauraleipz

NTA

A prank is 30 seconds of “gotcha” not 15 minutes of terrifying you, knowing you were alone and relatively vulnerable. What a w ker

billlevansatmariposa

NTA. He was playing a stupid game (etc., etc.).

Conclusion

The night ended with the unmasking of a prankster, but the aftermath has left the new employee isolated and ostracized by her colleagues. Was her fear justified, or did she overreact, leading to a workplace that’s now colder than the midnight air? The story’s ending is a stark reminder that sometimes, the scariest things aren’t what you see in the dark, but how others react to your fear.