Three people have been accused of violating the governor’s executive order limiting meetings after police spent hours breaking a party at a Jackson Township mansion that grew to more than 700 people on Sunday night and obstructed the streets of the neighborhood. with traffic, authorities said.
Police said they began receiving complaints about disturbances on Mill Pond Road around 8:30 pm from nearby residents.
After arriving and seeing the large crowd, the offices contacted the home’s owner, Yaakov Weiss, a 40-year-old Jackson resident, who told them that he had rented the property on Airbnb and had left when about 200 people were there. authorities said.
Located on a cul-de-sac in the suburban neighborhood, the house costs $ 795 a night to rent and is described as an “impressive house over 3,700 square feet,” according to the Airbnb listing. Host rules include “no parties or events”.
Police said the meeting eventually grew to more than 700 people with more than 100 vehicles parked in the area. When authorities tried to clear the crowd, more people continued to arrive.
Weiss and party organizers Patience Guanue, 23, and Alicia Hinneh, 22, both from Newark, received a subpoena for violating the governor’s executive order, police said. Under current coronavirus restrictions in New Jersey, outdoor meetings are limited to 500 people and indoor meetings to 100 people or 25% of the capacity of a room, whichever is less.
Authorities also received a 911 call from a nearby resident reporting that people who had left the party had broken into his residence and were damaging property, police said.
“It was determined that a family member of the caller who had been to the original party had invited a large group from the party to the residence. Additional officers responded and the unwanted group was dispersed from this second residence, ”Jackson Police said.
This was the second large part of the Ocean County authorities that recently split. In Brick last Monday, three people were charged after multiple departments broke a rowdy party that grew to more than 400 people in the Baywood section of Brick Township.
At the governor’s daily press conference on Monday, New Jersey State Police Colonel Pat Callahan said the continued ban on eating in bars and restaurants inside could be leading people to celebrate parties at the House.
“I think the fact that the bars and restaurants are closed creates this underground situation which is certainly not what we want because … young people, even if they are asymptomatic and positive, the fact that they can pass it on to their family members is without “One of us is concerned,” said Callahan.
In a statement, Airbnb spokesman Ben Breit said the company removed the two party organizers from the platform, disabled the list and is investigating further.
To help stop large gatherings in light of COVID-19, Airbnb announced in April that it temporarily removed the “parties and events allowed” rule from New Jersey lists that previously authorized parties and temporarily disabled the friendly search filter. for events “for the guests You can find meeting places.
“We strongly condemn informed behavior, which represents both a clear violation of Airbnb’s community policies and a particularly serious abuse during this public health crisis,” Breit said.
All Jackson officers on duty worked to clear the crowd and direct traffic until 1 a.m., with the help of nearby law enforcement agencies, police said.
The Freehold Police Department, Howell Police Department, Lakewood Police Department, Ocean County District Attorney’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, and the New Jersey State Police helped clean up the area .
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Avalon Zoppo can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo.
