In a rather audacious series of events, a group of Nantucket high schoolers, spurned by their failed attempt to rent a home through Airbnb for a Halloween party, took matters into their own hands by breaking into the $2 million residence. The homeowner, Edith Stone Lentini, had originally ignored what she considered a "sketchy" rental request for her property located at 20 Field Ave. The details of the intrusion began to unfold when Lentini received a call from the Nantucket Police Department on the night of November 1, informing her of the ongoing unauthorized party, as reported by the Boston.com.
Upon arrival at her Nantucket home, Lentini braced for the worst but found the premises in better condition than anticipated. The trespassers had gone to considerable lengths to protect the house during their revelry. "They took all the pictures and mirrors off the walls. They took all the pillows off the sofa and put them in the basement. They moved all the furniture aside, rolled up my white carpet and moved it into the screened-in porch, and moved my TV," Lentini recounted in a statement obtained by the Nantucket Current. Despite being upset about the incident, she acknowledged the care taken by the teenagers.
The local police, led by Lt. Angus MacVicar, are conducting what has been described as an "extensive investigation" into the break-in. The authorities were initially tipped off by noise complaints in the area and stumbled upon the party in progress. Due to the fact that the perpetrators are minors, the police department is withholding the release of the official report. MacVicar has yet to decide whether charges will indeed be filed, as per Boston.com.
The Airbnb listing for Lentini's house advertises it for $810 a night, and during peak summer months, Maury People Sotheby’s International Realty lists it at $5,500 per week. Though valued at $2.34 million in 2023, what transpired on that Halloween night has cast a new light on security and trust within the community—a community Lentini is thankful for, noting her gratitude for neighbors who promptly reported the disturbance. "I want to thank my neighbors that they knew enough to call. If I wasn't in a year-round neighborhood, I don't know what would have happened," Lentini told the Nantucket Current, reflecting on the series of events that led to her unexpected role as an unwitting host to a Halloween fiasco.
