In Minnesota, a candidate for the Hennepin County Board was arrested on assault charges after she was said to have thrown a live tarantula at her renter.
Marisa Simonetti, who is running for county board, told NBC News on Thursday that the fight started because local lawyer Jackie Vasquez allegedly wouldn’t leave her area.
She said that Vasquez had rented a room in her five-bedroom house through Airbnb, but she had to cancel the reservation because of some problems.
Simonetti, who lives with her son in the house, said, “She was there less than two weeks before she started sending me texts with two or three paragraphs and yelling at people on the phone for an hour at 10:30 at night.” “I’m just sitting up here … thinking this is not going to go well.”
Vasquez apparently told Simonetti that she would ruin her campaign and sent “paragraph-long threatening messages” through her campaign website, according to Simonetti.
Vasquez could not be reached at the phone numbers given for her to give her opinion.
It was said that things got worse last Thursday, which was Vasquez’s scheduled move-out day. She told Vasquez that she meant to close a door on her arm, but Vasquez was not arrested.
Simonetti said that Edina police went to the house three times that day and finally told Vasquez she was breaking the law. When asked for a comment, Edina police did not answer right away.
For some reason, Vasquez “barricaded herself in my basement like she had no intention of leaving,” according to Simonetti.
“I was wondering how far she would go.” Will she hurt me or my son? She said, “I can’t have this here.” “The police didn’t help me; I’m all on my own.”
Vasquez told KARE (870 AM) in Minneapolis that Simonetti threw the spider at her along with other things. That meeting was scary, she told the station.
The tarantula was bought by Simonetti at a pet shop. She said she “gently tipped it down the stairs” instead of throwing it at Vasquez.
“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,” he said. “I try to make jokes when I’m scared or hurt.” I was so scared I didn’t know what to do, so I got the spider.
When Simonetti was caught for the crime, she said she was shocked. From what I can see online, she was charged with fifth-degree assault and misdemeanor domestic abuse. Fear of physical harm is a part of the charges.
She was let go on her own terms on Monday afternoon. She said that Vasquez had already moved out by the time she got back home.
According to KARE, Simonetti came in second place in the nonpartisan Hennepin County Board race held this summer as a Republican. The station said she has been in trouble with the law before, including being charged with credit card fraud after racking up a $80,000 bill on her ex-fiancé’s card. After the ex-boyfriend and she reached a settlement in court, the case was dropped.
KARE says that she and an ex-boyfriend both have restraining orders against each other because of claims of stalking and abuse.
Someone named Simonetti said she hasn’t been able to find the spider.
She laughed and said, “I hope he found a good snack and a nice warm bed.”
