News
x
Narjas Zatat
1541247300

Picture:
Getty and Alavia Khawaja/Twitter screengrab
A woman documented her horrific experience with an Airbnb guest who destroyed her property, harassed her and who she accused of stealing money from her home.
Alavia Khawaja had been renting out a spare room in the apartment she shares with her sister when, starting on 11 October, she got a nightmare guest.
A man named Leonard Jackson, who had a positive review on his profile went to stay in her room, BuzzFeed News reports.
"Everything was normal,” she began on a Twitter thread about the ordeal, until she came home to him cleaning her apartment.
She quickly noticed that her locked bedroom had been opened, and every photo Khawaja had with men had been thrown out. Someone had gone through her wardrobe, too.
So, I Airbnb out a room in my apartment. I had a guest checking in; Everything was normal— I come home to this man… https://t.co/0ReRR0DfoR— Empress (@Empress) 1540676655
So, I Airbnb out a room in my apartment. I had a guest checking in; Everything was normal— I come home to this man… https://t.co/0ReRR0DfoR— Empress (@Empress) 1540676655
I confronted him and he denied everything. I kicked him out and he had the audacity to tell me to refund him. I fou… https://t.co/FOUp7OjV03— Empress (@Empress) 1540676655
She called the police, who took a report but did nothing else. Though Jackson left, he began to message her on the Airbnb app.
I called the police again and the detective updated me that he found that the man had been recently arrested for ha… https://t.co/wwQXQmAeYh— Empress (@Empress) 1540676660
The PD and Airbnb did nothing to help me so I decided to text him back, and he immediately responded https://t.co/LP4WX3sepZ— Empress (@Empress) 1540676661
Khawaja called the PD once more, but they said they couldn’t do anything, and advised her to call the police when she sees him. So she parked her car across from her apartment complex and when he showed up, she called the police.
As soon as he showed up, I called the police. They arrested him for trespassing and caught him with THREE pistols o… https://t.co/1zqz5GzIJE— Empress (@Empress) 1540676663
You'd think that would be the end of Khawaja's ordeal. It wasn't.
I told Airbnb all of this. It took them about two weeks to do anything about it. They deleted his profile yesterday… https://t.co/qhrjW3XBbx— Empress (@Empress) 1540676663
If my friend had not been with me during the first confrontation, who knows what would have happened to me https://t.co/Y4Y4K2dfHM— Empress (@Empress) 1540676666
Police have a warrant out for his arrest, and after almost two weeks since Jackson contacted her, Airbnb removed his profile.
In a statement to BuzzFeed, the company admitted it didn’t respond to the incident swiftly enough.
This reported behaviour is abhorrent and unacceptable, and has no place on Airbnb. We have removed this guest from our platform and are in contact with local law enforcement to offer our assistance.
Our initial response to this incident was simply too slow and we are working to fully support our host. There have been over 400 million guest arrivals to date and negative incidents are extremely rare.
Khawaja's story prompted other women to share theirs
@EmpressAloeVera I was told by a judge that I needed police escort but when i demanded that the officer stay for sa… https://t.co/Bsm37ZLiWS— carolyn (@carolyn) 1541210846
Khawaja has not been contacted by Jackson since.
More: WWE's latest event in Saudi Arabia dogged by more controversy and debate
More: Obama asks hecklers not to swear in front of children and we miss him all over again

Keep reading...Show less
Top 100
The Conversation (0)