(Newswire.net — July 18, 2018) —
An unusual incident in which a woman unintentionally stole a car for two weeks occurred recently in Ontario, Canada.
The drama began when the woman rented a black Nissan Sentra in Cornwall, Ontario and drove to a local Walmart. On the way out of the store, she located what she believed to be her rental vehicle but actually was not. The similar looking black car, a Nissan Infiniti, was unlocked so the woman got in, pushed the start button and drove away.
Since the owner of the Infiniti accidently left his key fob in the vehicle, the woman was able to simply drive away unaware that she was stealing someone’s vehicle.
Not long after, a report was called into the Cornwall police that a black Infiniti was stolen from a Walmart parking lot. The owner of the stolen vehicle, in need of a car, went to a local car rental place and proceeded to tell the manager his ordeal.
For the next few weeks the woman drove the stolen vehicle believing it was her rental. However, when the woman brought the car back to the company to return it and complained about the messy state of the car, even commenting about golf clubs left in the trunk, the manager was alerted that something was off.
The manager then noticed that the keys the woman handed over were that of a Nissan Infiniti and not of a Sentra which she had rented. Remembering that a few weeks prior a man had come in talking about his stolen black Infiniti, the manager pieced the story together.
Upon realizing her mistake, the woman told the police what had transpired. The police then located the man who had reported his vehicle stolen. The rental car was still parked in the Walmart parking lot.
In light of this incident, while it is currently standard practice and a “very important step in the rental process,” according to a Toronto car rental company, for the agent and customer to do a walk around inspection together to take note of any pre-existing damage to the vehicle, it would seem to be wise to take an extra moment to ensure the customer can fully identify the model of the rental vehicle before driving away. Additionally, the Cornwall police issued a reminder to drivers not to leave key fobs in unattended vehicles.
According to police, the woman who accidentally stole the car will not face charges.