Hertz Rental Car Snafu Leads To Lawsuit By Arrested Montco Woman

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA — A Montgomery County woman who says she was arrested after local police believed she was driving a stolen vehicle, when in fact the car was a rental and had been mistakenly reported as stolen, is now suing over the ordeal.

Saleema Lovelace, of Plymouth Meeting, was featured on a recent episode of Inside Edition, where she told a reporter that she had never been in handcuffs or inside a police vehicle before, and that the entire ordeal left her shaken.

"The reason you're being detained right now is this car was reported stolen from Hertz rental car," a Plymouth Township police officer is heard on body cam footage aired on Inside Edition.

Patch previously reported on the woman's ordeal here.

Hertz has reportedly settled dozens of civil suits arising out of similar incidents in which rental cars were mistakenly reported stolen, leading to police interactions.

In the Lovelace case, the Montgomery County woman was detained by local police at gunpoint and placed into the back of a police cruiser, where she is seen on body cam footage visibly shaken and explaining to officers that she was in legitimate possession of the rental vehicle.

The criminal charges in Plymouth Township were ultimately dismissed against Lovelace after her arrest.

Criminal records from the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas show that Lovelace was arrested by Plymouth Township officers in 2021 and charged with a felony count of receiving stolen property.

The docket sheet in the case shows the criminal charge was formally dropped last month.

Hertz representatives reportedly moved to dismiss Lovelace's lawsuit, according to Inside Edition.

A Daily Mail story says that Lovelace was one of more than 300 people from around the country who sought damages from Hertz after being wrongfully arrested due to a company oversight that can occur when rental car customers try to extend their rental period with a vehicle.

In Lovelace's case, the woman had reportedly been renting her vehicle for six months from Dollar Car Rental, which is a subsidiary of Hertz, according to the Daily Mail report.

"I was really, really scared," Lovelace told Inside Edition. "At that time, I just lost it. Stolen vehicle? This car's not stolen."

It was not immediately clear in which court Lovelace filed her complaint against Hertz.