Police: Airbnb partygoers rob owner, set off fire alarm

PALO ALTO >> Attendees of a 40-person party at an Airbnb in Palo Alto robbed the property owner and set off the fire alarm, according to police.

Police are looking for three suspects they say robbed the owner twice as he tried to close down the party. Meanwhile, Airbnb said it has taken action against the two people who booked the rental.

“The reported behavior is appalling and we have removed the booking guest from the Airbnb community,” the company said in an email. “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.”

At about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, a Palo Alto man in his 60s received alerts that the fire alarm sounded at the property he had rented out for the night at the 100 block of Tennyson Avenue off of Alma Street.

When he arrived to check in on the two guests, the man instead found dozens of people partying. As he walked around asking people to leave, two suspects shoved the man to the ground and ran off with his phone and wallet, police said.

Another attendee retrieved the phone and wallet for the victim. At about 1:45 a.m., the victim called 911, but was accosted by a third person who took his phone and an unspecified amount of money from his pants pocket before running away.

Palo Alto Police responded to the hang-up call after the man’s phone was stolen for the second time. He was uninjured, police said.

The third suspect was described as a 5 foot, 10 inch black man between about 20 to 25 years old; the other two suspects were also described as men about the same age.