Three people have been arrested for violating New Jersey’s social distancing guidelines after throwing a party that brought out more than 700 people.
NBC New York reports that it took police five hours to break up the mansion party on Sunday night, after nearby residents started complaining about a disturbance around 8:30 p.m. There were over 100 vehicles parked in the area, with more people arriving as the authorities tried to clear the area.
Upon seeing the massive crowd, officers reached out to the homeowner, 40-year-old Yaakov Weiss, who said he had rented out the residence on Airbnb and left when around 200 people were there. According to NJ.com, Weiss charged $795 a night and described it as a “stunning 3,700+ square foot home” on the site. He also had a “no parties or events” rule.
Weiss and the party hosts, 23-year-old Patience Guanue and 22-year-old Alicia Hinneh, were issued summonses for violating Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive order, which limits large groups. The governor has capped outdoor gatherings to 500 people and indoor gatherings to 25 percent capacity or 100 people at most.
Police received a second call from another resident in the area, who reported that some of the partiers broke into their residence and were damaging property. “It was determined that a family member of the caller who had been at the original party had invited a large group from the party back to the residence. Additional officers responded and the unwanted group was then dispersed from this second residence,” Jackson police said, per NJ.com.
Authorities stayed until 1 a.m., as they tried to clear the residence and the area of cars.
In a statement to NBC, Airbnb said it “strongly condemn[s] the reported behavior, which represents both a clear violation of Airbnb's community policies and a particularly serious abuse during this public health crisis.” The site has since deactivated the listing and deleted the party organizers’ profiles from the platform.
