Donisha Prendergast and two of her friends were mistaken for burglars by a neighbor when they were leaving their Airbnb rental.
Source: Instagram
Source: Instagram
Bob Marley's granddaughter has spoken out following her detainment by California police after she was accused of being a burglar at an Airbnb she was staying at.
READ: Bob Marley's Granddaughter To Sue California Police After They Mistook Her For An Airbnb Burglar
"What happened to us is an indignity," Donisha Prendergast said at a news conference in Harlem on Thursday according to Billboard.
"Do you not understand how you jeopardized our lives because of your fear?" she continued. "Just because I'm living here to tell this story doesn't make it any more right. We don't need more trouble, what we need is love."
The incident occurred when Prendergast and two of her friends — Kells Fyffe-Marshall and Komi-Oluwa Olafimihan — were confused for thieves as they were getting ready to leave their Airbnb in Rialto, California. The trio was packing their luggage when a neighbor called the cops on them, reportedly telling officers that she saw "three black people stealing stuff." The neighbor had also reportedly waved at the group but they didn’t acknowledge her back, which contributed to her calling the police.
"We were surrounded by 7 cop cars. The officers came out of their cars demanding us to put our hands in the air," Fyffe-Marshall wrote in a Facebook post. "They informed us that there was also a helicopter tracking us. They locked down the neighborhood and had us standing in the street."
Following the incident, the owner of the Airbnb Prendergast and her friends stayed at defended the neighbor's decision to call the police.
"If the kids had simply smiled at (my neighbor) and waved back and acknowledged her and said, 'We're just Airbnb guests checking out,' none of this would have ever happened," she said. "But instead, they were rude, unkind, not polite."
Prendergast is suing the Rialto Police Department and wants the organization to be investigated for how they handled the situation. She also wants the neighbor who called the police to be investigated as well.
Source: Billboard
