Police are investigating a wild house party that saw 30 or more teens allegedly break in and trash a Shellharbour home that they claimed they booked through a holiday rental site for the weekend
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Donnamaree Gasparrini was shocked and "disgusted" to drop her brother-in-law at his Gardeners Crescent home on Saturday night after he received a noise complaint from the neighbours.
What they found were teenagers on the front lawn, loud music playing from DJ equipment, chairs strewn across the backyard, dozens of empty alcohol cans, vomit, and a ransacked bedroom as well as a broken door lock.
When Ms Gasparrini's husband and brother-in-law, who lives in Queensland but was in town on the weekend, went inside, they say they were confronted by a young man claiming he had hired the house through Airbnb for the weekend.
"The boy told them, 'get out of my house, it is mine for the weekend'," she said.
To which her brother-in-law replied, "no you don't mate, you are trespassing".
"I just thought, 'what the hell, are you kidding me?'
"Teenagers today don't have any respect and they don't care."
Ms Gasparrini called the police after he brother-in-law was allegedly spat at and threatened.
She started talking photos of the teens and their identification and claimed they were all from the southern Illawarra area, aged between 14 and 18-years-old.
Six police crews attended the scene. Police have identified a 17-year-old suspect, who they have spoken to, and are hoping to question further.
Police will continue to investigate the break and enter and trespassing.
Ms Gasparrini felt it was important to tell others about the experience.
"It seems they sussed out the house on Airbnb and realised it was empty," she said.
"The teens went around to neighbours earlier in the day saying they hired out the home through Airbnb. But that was a lie.
"Anybody who has a property listed on Airbnb needs to ask their neighbours to check on their house and the owner needs to make sure the right people are in there.
"Kids are targeting empty homes now."
An Airbnb spokesman said the platform ensured the safety of its users by preventing guests from viewing or searching the address of a listing unless they make a booking that's accepted by the host.
"Airbnb's platform is designed to build trust between people and protect their safety and privacy, online and offline, on every part of every trip," he said. "Guests and hosts can read more about our trust and safety measures online."
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.