Sunday 09 January 2022
The Airbnb night was held at 216 Brown Street, a few blocks from Hope High School and Brown University. PHOTO: City of Providence Vision database
Police disrupted an unauthorized Airbnb party on the East Side of Providence on Saturday night.
Police said they encountered nearly two dozen people partying at 216 Brown Street – located across from Brown Street Park and Playground behind Hope High School – as well as several weapons and a trail of blood.
GET THE LATEST NEWS HERE – SIGN UP FOR FREE DAILY GOLOCAL EBLAST
About the incident
Shortly after 10 p.m. on Saturday, police responded to 216 Brown Street with a report of credit card fraud.
The owners of the property, Bruce Ackman and Lynn Iler, told police they were contacted by a man who said his Airbnb account had been hacked and he had not rented the property.
Police said the owners checked their security cameras and saw the party going on – along with individuals fighting – and went to check the property and have guests removed.
Police reported that upon entering the house through the back entrance, they observed a trail of blood from outside the house to the third floor.
Police said nearly two dozen people were in the apartment drinking and smoking hookah; one of the owners said when they arrived they found a gun in the room.
At that time, police said they called for reinforcements and ordered all guests to enter the living room. Police said they patted the subjects at the scene and found a gun on 24-year-old Edwin Torres. Police said they also found another weapon in the sofa cushions next to 23-year-old Izayah Carides.
All three weapons had canceled serial numbers, police said. Police also reported locating four knives at the scene.
Torres faces multiple gun charges and is in custody; Carides has been released pending further investigation.
Police conducted background checks on all subjects; Artavvia Godett had an active arrest warrant as well as Isaiah Ortiz, who has an arrest warrant from the Attorney General. Both were transported to the central station.
Latest Airbnb issue in Providence
As GoLocal reported in February 2021, “Shooting, arrests and parties related to Airbnb rentals in Providence:”
Over the past year, there has been a spate of crimes related to Airbnb rentals on the East Side of Providence, downtown, and on Federal Hill.
Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements told GoLocal: “This is a growing problem. We saw a lot of parties at Airbnbs, especially downtown and on Federal Hill before the pandemic. Now the East Side is experiencing incidents.
This week, the General Assembly voted to overturn Governor Dan McKee’s veto on legislation sponsored by Rep. Lauren H. Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport) and Senator Dawn Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport) , Jamestown) to require each short-term rental property offered for rent in Rhode Island on any third-party accommodation platform’s website must be registered with the Department of Business Regulation.
The bill, which now becomes law, aims to provide basic information to ensure compliance with safety and tax regulations and contact details of owners in the event of an emergency.
Comments are closed.