Pet Sitter Horror: High-Schoolers Trash House, Steal Cash, Take Drugs
Couple upset with alleged cat sitter gone wild http://t.co/zKH9IjwHXG pic.twitter.com/lqDQcqmF53
— David Nelson (@DavidNelsonNews) January 24, 2014
Pools of vomit, piles of human poop, and carpeting covered in used condoms welcomed a wealthy couple home from a tropical vacation, the Buffalo News reports. The culprits? A teenaged cat-sitter and 50 friends from Buffalo's most exclusive schools, the couple claims.
Besides trashing the fancy house in the exclusive Parkside neighborhood, Steven Binder and his wife Kristen Segebarth blame the kids for stealing $6,000 in cash kept around the house, along with a huge stash of powerful prescription-only painkillers that Binder says he keeps on hand for backaches.
Worst of all, at least for the couple's high-school daughter, the kids allegedly posted video of the debauchery on social media sites. In one clip, the girl claims, teenaged boys urinated all over her bed while screaming out, "This is for you!"
After surveying the damage and paying for an "industrial cleaning," the angry couple showed up at the teen-aged cat-sitter's house with a bill for her parents: $8,500. That's not the price for repairing the damage. That's what Binder says he spent on his vacation to Costa Rica.
The cat-sitter's parents reportedly answered this demand with a personal check for $90—their daughter's fee for the pet sitting, returned to Binder and Segebarth.
Police say the house was indeed messed up by the partying teens, all reportedly students at Buffalo's best schools, including City Honors School and Nardin Academy. But the Erie County District Attorney's Office says it's likely not a criminal case, and has advised the cops that the House of Horrors is probably a civil matter, if the couple wants to pursue it.
Meanwhile, the newspaper reports, the family has a long list of missing jewels and other valuables they want their insurance company to replace.
"We are not taking our role as victims lying down. We intend to hold those young adults and their parents accountable for their actions and/or lack thereof," Binder told the Buffalo News.
As is often the case in local news involving local people of status, the comments are a cesspool of insinuation, threats, accusations and alternate narratives. Among other claims, an anonymous commenter says the feces and urine were from the cats, not the kids. (Photos posted by the newspaper show some damage and also some normal clutter.)
Professional pet sitters are readily available in Buffalo and in every other city in America.