Hertz is facing dozens of claims in a wrongful arrest litigation. Cindy Ord/Getty Images
A Hertz customer has been arrested after being accused of stealing a rental car, a lawsuit says.
Antwanette Hill is one of hundreds of people suing Hertz for wrongful arrest over “stolen” cars.
A father and his daughter faced armed police after the company reported their rental car stolen.
A Hertz customer has been accused of stealing a rental car despite booking and paying for the vehicle, in an incident that led to her being arrested a total of four times and held in custody for days, a lawsuit says.
Antwanette Hill used her status as a platinum member of the Hertz Gold Club loyalty program to book and pick up a car in October 2018 without checking in with an Atlanta airport agent, according to the lawsuit filed in July and seen by Insider. She had previously rented from Hertz at least 20 times.
As she got into the car, an employee approached her and claimed she was stealing it. Hill told him she was a platinum member and to look for her reservation, but instead he called the police, who then arrested her.
Hill was arrested three more times between 2019 and 2021 for failing to appear in court over the incident because, according to the lawsuit, she was not informed of the court dates, and spent approximately nine days in jail each time. Your case is pending; Hertz declined to dismiss the case.
Hill was pregnant at the time of the fourth arrest in May 2021 and suffered a miscarriage in prison. She was hospitalized for three days.
The lawsuit states that “the loss of her child will haunt her for the rest of her life” and that the pending charges have left her struggling to find work as an optometrist.
Hill is one of dozens of people participating in the class action lawsuit against Hertz alleging they were wrongfully arrested based on false reports of theft.
The lawsuit states that Hertz reported cars as stolen even when they were legally rented or simply because they could not be located due to poor records: “Hertz knows its tracking and inventory control is flawed, but reports the cars as stolen anyway.” stolen. “
The story goes on
An attorney involved in the class action lawsuit, Francis Alexander Malofiy, said Hertz failed to withdraw the theft claims to avoid damaging its relationship with police.
A separate lawsuit, filed in late September and seen by Insider, focused on cars that were reported stolen before they were handed over to customers. Malofiy is also involved in this lawsuit.
In one incident, Nicholas Wright and his 13-year-old daughter were swarmed by armed police 30 minutes after they picked up an SUV in Savannah, Georgia, when a Hertz agent reported them for theft.
A Hertz executive arrived at the scene in a courtesy car after Wright showed officers his rental agreement. His daughter is seeking therapy for the incident, the lawsuit says.
“No company in America, no company in the world uses the police as a taxpayer-funded repo service,” Malofiy told Insider.
Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr admitted to false arrests by the company in an interview with CNBC in March, reversing years of denials by the company, but said policies have been put in place to prevent it.
Hertz filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2020. But Malofiy said the lawsuits showed the arrests continued after the company emerged from that trial in July last year.
“What [Scherr] says is wrong and he needs to be held accountable,” Malofiy said.
A Hertz spokesperson told Insider in an email statement, “Hertz cares deeply about our customers and we successfully provide car rentals to tens of millions of travelers each year.
“When our customers are negatively impacted, we commit to doing the right thing for our customers. At the same time, we will protect and defend ourselves against false claims aimed at harming our business.”
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