It is unfortunate that stories like that could really harm AirBnB's reputation. I am sure that there are plenty of vacation rental stories of people trashing and burglarizing properties, but the difference is that this was not a vacation rental. I hope that thieves do not make a trend of preying on AirBnB hosts to gain access to their private residences.
AirBnB's policy of "disallowing the exchange of personal contact information until the point in which a reservation is already confirmed and paid for" seems like it makes this kind of story inevitable.
