College library’s sprinkler system installed without water pipes

BILLINGS – A contract employee who was to install a fire sprinkler system in the library at Montana State University Billings is charged with theft by embezzlement for selling or disposing of the pipe rather than installing it.

The Billings Gazette reported 33-year-old Dustin James Jensen made an initial appearance in Justice Court Wednesday and his bail was set at $30,000. He is scheduled to enter a plea in District Court on Feb. 1.

The state fire marshal’s office, the Billings Fire Department and an alarm company tested the system on Aug. 15. However, days later, a university employee found that sprinklers were installed, but there were no pipes to feed water to them.

Prosecutors say Jensen sold 2,540 pounds of pipe to a recycling company for just over $82 and put other pipe in dumpsters on campus.