Home owners scammed by party-throwing renter

AMAGANSETT (WABC) -- Authorities in the Hamptons says homeowners and landlords are being scammed by a guy throwing parties for underage kids.

One Hamptons homeowner said he found a giant mess after a huge after prom party at his house that he had no idea was even going on.

Another homeowner says the same thing happened to her. Lucy Sachs says she arrived at her family's century old mansion in Amagansett at five in the morning to find 100 teenagers sprawled all over the place.

The man behind it, she says, was 25 year old Lee Hnetinka.

"When this happened I said, 'Lee, you cannot sub-lease according to this lease, so you're done. You're no longer in this house,'" she said.

Sachs family snapped video of Hnetinka. They had to call the police on him because they say Hnetinka hired a locksmith to break into the Sachs home so he could rent it out again for more underage bashes.

"I'd like to see him stop doing it but I'm sure he's going to keep trying," Sachs said.

Eyewitness News spoke with several of the alleged scammed homeowners and they say Hnetinka tricks people into thinking he's coming in from out of town to use the house to relax for himself and his family

But instead home owners find a trashed home when they return. They say Hnetinka charges teenagers hundreds of dollars each and throws huge parties, complete with buses, alcohol and security guards to fend off police.

Sachs says the kids she busted in her house didn't know the breadth of Hnetinkas alleged scam.

"At one point I had 35 kids in the kitchen, all wide-eyed about how I was duped and they were duped," she said.

---
WAKE UP WITH EYEWITNESS NEWS! Click here to download the WABC Eyewitness News Alarm Clock app from iTunes. or search WABC or 7online in the app store.

Get Eyewitness News Delivered

Facebook | Twitter | Newsletters | Text Alerts

Get more Long Island News »

long island, hamptons, amagansett, scams, long island news

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•