Palo Alto Airbnb Owner Interrupts Party; Gets Robbed By Partygoer
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- An Airbnb owner, who was investigating a smoke alarm notification at his Palo Alto rental home, discovered his tenants were hosting an unauthorized party and was then robbed by partygoers, authorities said.
Palo Alto police said the incident took place early Sunday morning. The owner, a male in his 60s, went to check on his Airbnb rental in the 100 block of Tennyson Avenue after receiving notifications that his smoke alarm had been activated.
Two people has rented the home for the weekend, but when the owner entered the home after midnight, he discovered there were approximately 40 people there having a party.
The owner told people to leave the home, police said, but two suspects approached him in a bedroom, pushing him to the ground and grabbing his wallet and mobile phone.
Another partygoer came to the home owner's aid, found the suspects and returned the man's wallet and phone.
As the home owner attempted to call 9-1-1, he was approached a second time by another male suspect, who pushed him and stole his mobile phone and an undisclosed amount of money located in his front pants pocket.
The suspect then fled the home.
Palo Alto police said he was described as a black male, between 20 to 25 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighing 160 to 170 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and was wearing a dark colored sweat jacket, and orange colored pants.
The other two suspects were also described as black males between 20 to 25 years old.
Meanwhile, Airbnb officials have banned the tenants from any future rentals.
"The reported behavior is appalling, and we have removed the booking guest from the Airbnb community," the company said in a statement. "We are providing our full support to our host at this time, and we have proactively reached out to Palo Alto Police to offer our assistance in their investigation."
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984.
