Three people have been charged after a massive party at a New Jersey Airbnb rental spiraled out of control.
Captain Steven Laskiewicz, with the Jackson Police Department, said officers spent almost five hours trying to wind down the party after first responding to a call about a “suspicious incident” there at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday night.
“Officers monitored the area and observed a large crowd at the residence. The homeowner was contacted and advised officers that he had rented out the residence on AirBnB and was hosting a large party. The homeowner then left the area as an estimated 200 additional people arrived at the residence and the party began to expand,” Laskiewicz said in a Facebook post.
The captain said that the gathering swelled in excess of 700 people and that there were an estimated 100 vehicles parked in the area because of the party. The event was finally wrapped up around 1 a.m.
Police later charged 40-year-old homeowner Yaakov Weiss and two of the party’s organizers, Patience Guanue, 23, and Alicia Hinneh, 22, with violating New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s order against outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people and indoor gatherings of more than 100.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Airbnb for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The rental giant told the Hill on Monday that it removed the party’s organizers from its platform and has been in contact with local authorities.
“We strongly condemn the reported behavior, which represents both a clear violation of Airbnb’s community policies and a particularly serious abuse during this public health crisis,” an Airbnb spokesperson said in a statement.
The party comes as New Jersey, one of the worst-affected states early on in the pandemic, continues to grapple with the contagion. The state has had almost 182,700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 15,800 deaths since the pandemic began.
