Water left running at Lowell courthouse, files ruined

LOWELL, Mass. (WHDH) -- Thousands of files inside Lowell District Court were ruined after water was left running over the weekend.

The clerk’s office was closed for several hours on Monday so workers could clean up the mess, and fans were cranked up inside the office to dry out thousands of water-logged court files.

“It’s entirely unusual and irregular that this shouldn’t have been left on like this over the weekend,” said Bill Lisano, clerk magistrate.

Five workers, who were ordered to perform community service for sentences, were mopping the floors inside the courthouse Saturday. For some reason, a drain in the mop closet clogged, and the water was left running -- flooding the clerk’s office, damaging ceiling tiles, computers, faxes and critical court files.

When asked if any cases will be in jeopardy due to the flooding, the clerk magistrate said, “No. Well, I can’t say no definitely...I don’t see any reason why the water should’ve been on and left running.”

Officials say they want to talk to the five workers who were inside the courthouse over the weekend to determine whether the flooding was accidental or intentional.