Airbnb nightmare as couple tell how their 'super host' crashed through the window and attacked them

Jaleesa Jackson (left) and Chiedozie Uwandu (right) went to LA for a beach holiday but were shocked when their Airbnb 'super host' jumped through the window. Photo / Facebook

An Airbnb host in LA crashed through the window of a house he rented to a Boston couple while they slept before they barricaded themselves in the kitchen armed with a knife.

Jaleesa Jackson, 29, and Chiedozie Uwandu, 28, were on holiday in Los Angeles when they rented a small guesthouse, MailOnline Travel reports.

The medical residents in anesthesiology traveled 4800 kilometres for the beach break and were even greeted with a chilled bottle of wine on their arrival with a welcome note from their 'super host' JJ.

But their trip turned to a nightmare when their host jumped through the window, leaving broken glass across the floor, demanding "cleaning fees".

Uwandu, who is 6ft tall, leapt out of bed and jumped on the man, pinning him down with a knee in his back - suspecting him to be a burglar.

But as the man broke free and fled the scene Uwandu realized it was the same host who rented the couple the house.

Jackson called 911 and told them their Airbnb host attacked them.

Police scrambled a helicopter and squad cars to the house and brought 'JJ' back in handcuffs.

While police were still at the scene and elderly lady arrived to ask who Jackson and Uwandu were as she rented the building to JJ, who was listing it on Airbnb without her knowledge.

Uwandu told the Boston Globe: "I had no idea what was happening. But I reacted like we were under attack."

The bizarre events began on their first night when Jackson awoke to a loud banging at the door at around 5:30am in the morning.

She heard an agitated man shout, "I know you're in there, Kevin", and she opened the door ajar and told the man to go away before slamming it shut.

When she rang JJ to tell him what happened he replied: "Yeah, that was me. Sorry about the confusion. Life's too short for me to give you an explanation. Have a nice time in LA."

Then the next morning the couple, who met at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland, were stunned when JJ came through the large window wearing a grey jumper with a hood covering his head.

The couple, who are both medical residents, were told by police JJ claimed Airbnb told him to evict them over 'cleaning fees'. Photo / Facebook

After the police arrived one of the officers told Jackson and Uwandu that JJ claimed Airbnb told him to evict them over "cleaning fees".

Uwandu added: "He told the police that Airbnb had ordered him to evict us, over cleaning fees."

Airbnb said the company would refund the US$708 ($1085) they paid to rent the guesthouse, but the money didn't show up on their card until last week.

The company offered to relocate the couple to another property but Jackson and Uwandu decided check into a nearby Hilton hotel, costing US$2300 ($3535) for the room, parking, and expenses.

They asked Airbnb for US$5,000 compensation and the firm's final offer was US$2,500 ($3831), plus five therapy sessions to "overcome the trauma", which Jackson and Uwandu turned down.

An Airbnb spokesman said the company's original handling of the incident fell short of standards. Photo / 123RF

A spokesman for Airbnb told DailyMail.com: "Our original handling of this incident fell well below the high standards we set for ourselves.

"We have apologised to Dr. Jackson and Dr. Uwandu for our insufficient response. We are currently working with them to make this right, and we are reviewing every aspect of this case from the reports of the host's disturbing behavior to our response.

"Our community's safety is our priority, we are deeply sorry for the anguish and inconvenience our guests have experienced and again we are working to make it right."