Iowa Man Charged With Flooding Jail Cell, Covered in Stinky Goo
If you are already in jail for a whole bunch of charges, what's one more? A northwest Iowa man is going to find out if it was worth it, as well as getting covered in gross stinky goo.
According to NWestIowa.com, 33-year-old Brandon Lee Nelson was in custody at the O'Brien County Jail in Primghar, Iowa on Saturday. While sitting in a cell after an arrest for multiple other charges, Nelson broke off a fire sprinkler head at around 12:35 am.
As you might expect, when a sprinkler head is broken off from its pipe, the result is a bunch of water being released into the room where the head broke off.
Jail officers found Nelson covered in black soot from the initial release of water. The black stuff, which wasn't soot, was most likely microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). According to C1sinc.com, MIC is a form of corrosion most often found in fire sprinkler systems where the water doesn't flow at all, just sits pressurized. According to a commenter on a Reddit thread, it also stinks and I believe them.
Nelson fessed up to breaking off the sprinkler head, which probably surprised him when disgusting black fluid came out first. Authorities tacked on an additional charge of fourth-degree criminal mischief. He was already in jail for an alleged car theft and damaging property on August 10th.
Northwest Iowa is quickly becoming a solid source of quirky criminal stories.