Airbnb Host From Hell: Minnesota Political Candidate, 32, Convicted of Assault for Throwing a Tarantula at Tenant 'to Get Her to Leave' Property

According to a criminal complaint, Simonetti began acting erratically toward Jacklyn Vasquez, who was renting out the basement of her home to study for the bar exam.

The 32-year-old claimed that the two quickly became at odds after her guest suggested she hire a pest control company to address "large spiders" in the unit.

"She was in my house less than two weeks before she started sending me double-, triple-paragraph long texts and yelling at people on the phone at 10:30 at night for an hour," said Simonetti, who lives in the home with her son. "I’m just sitting up here ... thinking this is not going to go well."

Vasquez said she wanted to leave, but was too scared to do so.

"(Simonetti) disconnected the internet, she created a hostile environment," Vasquez said. "I didn’t refuse to leave. Only when she was arrested, I fled."

On June 21, 2024, Vasquez called 911 several times, first when Simonetti began banging pots and pans together while she was trying to study, and then when Simonetti shut off the home's internet service.

Vasquez later called 911 again, claiming Simonetti and a man took apart the door to her basement room. Saying she felt "scared," Vasquez hid in her room, but left her laptop at the bottom of the stairs to record what was happening.

The video, which was shown on KARE 11, revealed the sound of pots and pans banging, while a woman yelling "Hallelujah!" could be heard coming from upstairs.

The conflict culminated when Simonetti bought a tarantula from a nearby pet store and threw it down the stairs at her unwanted house guest, loudly declaring, "Spider infestation!" before adding, "This is why you never f--- with Marisa Simonetti."

According to the complaint, responding officers found "pins, tacks, nails, a live tarantula, which was moving around, what appeared to be the contents of a terrarium dumped down the stairs, and several small toys."

Simonetti later confessed she was inspired by Macaulay Culkin's shenanigans in Home Alone.

"I’m not a physically violent person, and I watched the movie 'Home Alone' growing up, and I was like, you know what, this is such a strange situation," Simonetti said. "If I’m scared or hurt, I try and make jokes. And I was so scared, I was just like, I didn’t know what to do, and so, yeah, I got the spider."

Simonetti was convicted on charges of gross misdemeanor harassment, misdemeanor domestic assault and disorderly conduct in connection with her actions leading up to a June 21, 2024, arrest.

She has faced legal trouble in the past, including allegations of credit card fraud, after she was accused of running up an $80,000 bill on her ex-fiancé’s card, according to KARE.

She and an ex-boyfriend also have restraining orders against each other following allegations of stalking and assault.

After her arrest, local Republicans distanced themselves from the Senate hopeful, with one local chair saying Simonetti "has only served to embarrass the Republican Party."

Her sentencing is scheduled for May 1.