Florida college student tampers with sprinkler system, breaks into pump room through vent: police

article

Photo: Lee County Sheriffs Office

FORT MYERS, Fla. - A Florida Gulf Coast University student was nabbed after he allegedly tampered with a building's sprinkler system and broke into a pump room by crawling through a vent, university police said. 

Nathan Eggleston, 28, was arrested and charged with damaging property, burglary of an unoccupied structure and interfering with firefighter equipment after the incident that unfolded on Dec. 13, according to an arrest affidavit from the FGCU University Police Department (UPD). 

A witness told officers that she saw a man, later identified as Eggleston, do something to the fire sprinkler system in the West Lake Village Community Center Building, the affidavit said. The fire alarm went off, and then she said she saw Eggleston allegedly using several bricks to break into a vent on the bottom of the door before crawling in and gaining access to the pump room in the building. 

According to FGCU's website, this is a student housing building reserved for upper-class students. 

Officers responded to the building and ordered Eggleston to exit the pump room, but no response was received, the affidavit said. An officer used a flashlight through a broken vent on the bottom of the door, which revealed Eggleston in the corner of the room. He was ordered once again to exit the room, and he finally complied. He was placed in handcuffs pending an investigation. 

MORE FLORIDA CRIME:

• 3 Florida teens break into middle school and steal Roku device, deputies say
• Man shoots Florida deputy after stealing cigarettes, tells deputies to call Biden to 'pardon him': sheriff
• Daytona Beach mother-daughter duo accused of robbing, stabbing man who was trying to help them: police 

Eggleston agreed to speak with officers post-Miranda, and he admitted to pulling the first flush system and crawling into the pump room space, according to the affidavit. 

When asked why he would be in an interview with a detectives, he responded, "I f----- up and hit the first flush system. I had no right. I thought I would do it before or after I graduate." He also told officers that one of the maintenance workers showed him how to use the lever. 

"If you turn it half way (sic) down, it blast (sic) like 5 gallons of water a second and if you turn all the way down it blast (sic) like 15 gallons a second and it floods out West Lake," Eggleston told officers, per the affidavit. 

He added that he "freaked out" because the fire alarm went off and just "laid there" when he heard officers yelling at him to come out, the affidavit said. 

During his arrest, he also reportedly told officers that he's a "maintenance assistant" and then "my friend is a maintenance assistant."

Eggleston has since been released from custody after posting $10,750 bond. 

FOX 35 reached out to Florida Gulf Coast University about the incident, but they declined to comment.