An already bitter housing dispute in Edina, Minnesota, took a bizarre and frightening turn when police say a woman renting out part of a home through Airbnb released a live tarantula near her guest’s living space, scattered thumbtacks and toys across a staircase, and helped create a scene that eventually led to criminal charges and a jury conviction.
The bodycam footage and recordings were reviewed by the YouTube channel Midwest Safety, whose host said the June 21, 2024, confrontation grew out of an ongoing dispute between Airbnb host Marisa Simonetti and guest Jaclyn Vasquez, who had been staying in the basement portion of the house.
What began as a disagreement over spiders, pest control and the terms of the rental eventually brought Edina police to the property on consecutive days, with Vasquez telling officers she was frightened by Simonetti’s increasingly erratic behavior and Simonetti insisting that she had done nothing wrong.
Dispute Began After Complaints About Spiders
Midwest Safety said Vasquez had booked the downstairs area for an extended stay and had been living there since early June when problems developed roughly two weeks into the arrangement.
According to the channel, Vasquez complained about an apparent spider problem in the basement and said she had even offered to pay for pest control herself, but the request became a flashpoint in the relationship between the two women.
The dispute had already attracted police attention the night before the tarantula incident, after Simonetti allegedly kept an Instacart order that belonged to Vasquez.
Bodycam footage showed officers telling Simonetti that she could not simply hold on to someone else’s groceries and directing her to return the items.
“This isn’t a negotiation,” one officer told her after she resisted the request.
The housing arrangement itself was also complicated. Midwest Safety said Simonetti was not the owner of the home but was leasing it and then subletting the basement through Airbnb, despite restrictions in both her lease and Edina’s rules governing short-term rentals.
That legal gray area made the dispute harder for officers to untangle, but it did not give either side permission to intimidate the other, and police repeatedly tried to separate the landlord-tenant disagreement from the conduct that could amount to a crime.
Vasquez Records What Happened Before Police Arrived
Vasquez’s laptop recording later became an important piece of evidence because it captured the period before officers entered the home.
During a 911 call, she told dispatchers that Simonetti and a man with her were trying to remove or dismantle the door hardware leading to the basement while yelling from upstairs.
“They’re going to burst through and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Vasquez said.
She told the dispatcher she was hiding in a bedroom and was worried about her cats, while loud praise-and-worship music and shouting could be heard in the background.
Simonetti could be heard repeatedly yelling religious phrases, including “Thank you, Jesus” and “Hallelujah,” which she later described to police as part of her effort to cope with stress.
Midwest Safety said the recording then captured Simonetti throwing or releasing several objects down the stairs, including thumbtacks, push pins, toys and what appeared to be other small items that could make walking through the area difficult.
The most unusual part was the tarantula.
Vasquez told police that Simonetti had placed a real tarantula on the staircase, and the recording appears to capture Simonetti acknowledging that she had recently bought and released it downstairs.
For someone already frightened by a spider problem, releasing a large live tarantula into the same space was far beyond an ordinary prank. Even without serious physical injury, the act was plainly capable of creating fear and panic, which became central to the criminal case that followed.
Police Find The Tarantula And Tacks
When officers arrived, they found the staircase littered with tacks and other objects, while Vasquez warned them to watch where they stepped.
One officer located the tarantula and commented on its size, while another helped search for Vasquez’s cats amid the noise and confusion.
“This is one of the most bizarre things ever,” an officer said earlier in the encounter.
Vasquez told police she had secured parts of the basement because there were no proper locks and that she was afraid Simonetti or the man with her would come inside.
She also said Simonetti had disconnected the internet, making it difficult for her to communicate or arrange to leave, and claimed Simonetti had contacted an ex-partner whom Vasquez said she had previously fled because of abuse.
Officers were careful to distinguish between Simonetti’s loud religious music, which they said was not itself something they could act on, and conduct such as removing door hardware, spreading sharp objects and releasing the spider.
“There’s nothing we can do about her playing the music, but some of this other stuff is crossing the line,” one officer said.
Simonetti Was Not The Homeowner
The case became even more complicated when officers learned that Simonetti did not actually own the house.
Midwest Safety said Simonetti had contacted the true owner, John Ashley, asking him to make Vasquez leave, but the owner apparently had not known the details of the Airbnb arrangement and did not immediately trespass Vasquez from the property.
That undermined Simonetti’s repeated claims that Vasquez was simply a trespasser or squatter who could be forced out.
Police explained that the Airbnb arrangement was itself problematic under Edina rules, but they also made clear that an eviction dispute had to be handled through the proper process rather than by simply driving the occupant out through intimidation.
Vasquez showed officers messages and other documentation related to the booking, while Simonetti continued to argue that she had been manipulated by someone she described as legally sophisticated.
The situation illustrates how quickly housing disputes can become dangerous when one side tries to solve a civil problem through pressure or harassment rather than through formal eviction procedures.
Simonetti And Friend Are Arrested
After reviewing the recordings and collecting photographs of the scene, officers determined that they had probable cause to make arrests.
Simonetti repeatedly denied assaulting Vasquez as officers placed her in handcuffs.
“I did not assault the girl,” she said several times.
Her friend, Michael Charles Held, was also arrested for his role in the confrontation.
Midwest Safety said Held was initially charged with fifth-degree assault and disorderly conduct and later reached a plea agreement that resulted in a $300 fine for disorderly conduct.
Simonetti’s charges changed as the case developed. She ultimately faced allegations including harassment for causing extreme emotional distress, domestic assault based on acts intended to cause fear of bodily harm, and disorderly conduct.
The case took more than two years to reach trial, according to the channel.
Simonetti Later Defended The Tarantula As A Joke
Shortly after the arrest, Simonetti spoke publicly about the confrontation while she was campaigning for public office.
Reporter Karen Scullin questioned her directly about the tarantula and the rental dispute.
Simonetti said she had anticipated that the incident would attract attention because she was running for office and described the stunt as an attempt to make the situation “a little funny” and “a little Home Alone.”
When Scullin pointed out that Simonetti had actually gone out and purchased a tarantula, Simonetti responded by asking whether the reporter had seen the movie Home Alone.
Scullin also pressed her on whether she owned the house.
After initially avoiding a direct answer, Simonetti acknowledged that Ashley was the homeowner.
Asked whether she was fit to run for county commissioner after the footage became public, Simonetti said she was good at “creatively solving problems” and insisted that she had not physically harmed anyone.
She also acknowledged sounding “a little unhinged” in the recording but said that, in her view, the behavior ultimately got Vasquez out of the house.
Jury Convicts Her Two Years Later
Midwest Safety said Simonetti’s campaign for Hennepin County commissioner ended in a decisive loss while the criminal case remained pending.
She also filed civil claims against Vasquez, Hennepin County, the city of Edina, Edina police and several individual officers.
The criminal case eventually went before a jury in 2026.
According to Midwest Safety, jurors unanimously convicted Simonetti on the charges presented at trial.
She was sentenced to 90 days, with four days of credit already served, along with two years of probation. The court also ordered her to write an apology letter to Vasquez, attend domestic-abuse counseling, undergo a mental-health evaluation and refrain from possessing firearms, while fines and fees exceeded $1,000.
The strange details of the case may make it easy to focus on the tarantula, but the broader issue was more conventional: a rental dispute escalated into intimidation and conduct that a jury ultimately found criminal.
What might have been resolved through a landlord-tenant process instead became a police investigation, a criminal prosecution and years of litigation, largely because the conflict moved from arguments over housing rules into behavior designed to frighten the person living downstairs.
Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
