NASHVILLE, TN (WKRN) — Nashville is a popular destination for bachelorette parties. The neon lights of Lower Broadway attract thousands of brides every year, but one weekend proved dangerous for a group of friends.
Last month, Michelle Johnson and her friends flew from Houston, Texas to Music City to celebrate her marriage proposal. But when they returned to their Airbnb after a night out on the town, they discovered a thief inside the house.
Johnson said when Uber dropped them off at their West End Circle Airbnb rental, a girl ran into the house before the rest of the group to use the restroom.
This friend then heard footsteps coming from the upper level of the house.
“She was using the toilet and noticed she could hear footsteps upstairs, and the house was three stories high, so she felt like it was ringing really loud and, ‘There was no way you hit me all the way up there'” Johnson said. “She started counting heads and seeing all the girls. The eight of us were in the kitchen making Pizza Rolls.
They then noticed that the back glass door had been smashed and there was another person upstairs.
“There was broken glass everywhere, and it was a glass door that he broke,” Johnson said.
The girls ran out of the house and called the police.
“I hadn’t realized how common it was, and [the police] said we were the third caller that night,” Johnson said.
Tube Police told WKRN that known Airbnbs are often easy targets for repeat offenders and there have been 30 calls for service at this West End Circle address so far this year. Half of those calls were “proactive checks” for police to patrol in case of suspicious activity.
The MNPD suggests that if you’re in Nashville for a bachelorette party, don’t place any decorations outside of the rental property or on your car that would let people know you’re from out of town.
Johnson said if she could do it all over again, she would have stayed in a hotel instead.
“Police said it’s very common for people to monitor Airbnb locations and see people coming and going, and it’s pretty obvious we were a bachelorette party. We come with a ton of suitcases and balloons and drinks and things like that. So it’s kind of put a target on our backs. But it was definitely not something I thought we had to worry about,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Airbnb gave her a partial refund. She added that she was happy no one was hurt.
Metro police confirmed that the thief fled with a laptop inside the house.
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