More wrongfully arrested drivers file suit against Hertz rental cars

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Hertz rental car company is facing even more lawsuits, this time from two customers in Pennsylvania who claim the company filed false police reports that led to their arrests.

"Sitting in a cell, eating cheese sandwiches and drinking water for three days is not too pleasant of an experience," But that's where William West found himself in November 2015.

He was locked up and accused of driving a stolen vehicle.

"They handcuffed me, put me in a car, and I'm telling them 'it's a rental,'" said West.

West drove a Hertz rental car for three months and left his credit card on file. But in that time, he says the company reported the car stolen. He fought for years to clear his name.

"The judge tossed it out ultimately. How could you steal a car you've been renting for three months? They have your name, address, credit card information on file, and so forth," said West.

RELATED: Hertz settles dozens of customer lawsuits after Action News investigation

Hertz rental car company has agreed to settle nearly three dozen lawsuits brought by customers who say the agency wrongly reported its vehicles as stolen. Some customers have been arrested and jailed.

It's similar to what Saleema Lovelace is dealing with. She was arrested while driving a vehicle from a Hertz rental subsidiary, Dollar Rental, in January 2021.

After being arrested, her criminal case is still pending. She's still facing felony charges.

"How can a big corporation this big allow this to happen to this many people?" asks Lovelace.

She's one of 350 people from all across the nation now represented by attorney Francis Malofiy.

"This is disproportionately happening to black and minority communities," said Malofiy.

RELATED: Customers sue Hertz for false theft claims | Action News Investigation

Now the cases are moving forward in civil court after being held up in bankruptcy court.

"It's like molasses. It's a sand trap. In state court, we get the benefit of a jury trial," said Malofiy.

Hertz says it disagrees with the court's decision to have the cases tried outside bankruptcy proceedings. They sent Action News the following statement:

"As previously stated, we disagree with the bankruptcy court's ruling that allows claims from before Hertz emerged from bankruptcy to be heard outside the bankruptcy proceedings. We have appealed the Court's ruling and will continue to oppose any requests to bring pre-emergence claims outside of bankruptcy court. The claims filed in Pennsylvania are not new and have been part of the ongoing proceedings in bankruptcy court.

Hertz has also sent almost sixty confidential settlement offers to individuals who had a negative experience with our company. As we said, these settlement offers are not exhaustive. We are diligently moving through the individual claims as efficiently and rapidly as possible and look forward to continuing to make progress towards reaching resolutions in the months ahead."

So far, two cases have been filed in the Philadelphia court of common pleas and 47 cases have been filed in Delaware State Court. Ten similar cases have been filed in Florida.