Woman, 36, arrested for alleged Airbnb theft worth thousands after her stay

A woman has been arrested after a two-night Airbnb booking in Adelaide’s western suburbs turned into a $25k nightmare for its host. Find out why.

Airbnb host, John Dawe speaking to 9 News Adelaide after he was allegedly robbed by guests. Picture: 9 News Adelaide.

A 36-year-old woman has been arrested after thousands of dollars worth of personal belongings were allegedly stolen from an Airbnb she rented in Adelaide’s western-suburbs last month.

The alleged theft occurred between Thursday 29 May and Saturday 31 May, at a home on Cairns Ave at Lockleys, where multiple items were stolen, including audio equipment, a gaming console, jewellery and clothing.

Following investigations, police attended and searched a Findon address where they claim they located items stolen from the Lockleys address.

CCTV footage shows the guests, a woman and three children leaving the house with what appears to be Mr Dawe's belongings. Picture: 9 News Adelaide

Police also said they searched a second address in Seaton where further stolen items were located and subsequently returned to the victim.

A 36-year-old woman from Findon was arrested and charged with theft.

Owner of the Airbnb property, John Dawe told 9News Adelaide on Thursday that the value of items stolen were around the $25,000 mark, and that he did not realise he had been robbed until days after the woman had left.

“I actually had no idea for a couple of days, (as) the guest left the house in perfect condition apart from moving all my furniture around,” he said.

“It does give you a sick feeling in your stomach, but I do feel gratitude that she didn’t damage my house.”

Airbnb host, John Dawe speaking to 9 News Adelaide after he was allegedly robbed by guests. Picture: 9 News Adelaide.

CCTV on the property shows the guests, a woman and three children leaving after their stay.

Mr Dawe’s daughter, Kayley said her wardrobe was cleared out, with other items of hers also taken.

Her room appeared to have been ransacked, which was the first indicator that a theft had been committed.

“Most of my clothes, my record player, my makeup and skincare (and) my Nintendo,” she said.

After Mr Dawe checked the house and discovered more expensive items were missing, he contacted a woman through Airbnb and demanded the items be returned.

Items were returned to Mr Dawe in a small box after he contacted the guests, but he says there was still thousands of dollars worth of belongings still missing. Picture: 9 News Adelaide.

He recorded a conversation with a woman, who said she would replace and return what was taken.

“You’ve been to the police, you’ve reported your stuff stolen, which is going to be replaced and brought back to you within the hour,” she said over the phone.

An hour later, a small amount of items were left on his doorstep, however, thousands of dollars worth of belongings were still missing.

After more than a year as a host, Mr Dawe said he was now considering taking down his post, and not renting his property out again.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Airbnb said the company was assisting Mr Dawe and was taking the matter seriously.

“Incidents like this are rare on Airbnb and we take reports very seriously,” they said.

“We’re continuing to provide support to the host and are ready to assist police in their investigations.

“We require everyone who uses Airbnb to represent themselves authentically, and enforce strict policies governing who can have an account.

“On the back end, we use sophisticated technologies to help prevent bad actors from using the platform.”

Police said investigations into the matter were still ongoing.

The woman was granted police bail to appear in Port Adelaide Magistrates Court in July.