Louisville man arrested for stealing rental car for 3 months — but had only rented it for 1 day
A Louisville man has become the latest example of false theft claims that recently cost Hertz nearly $170 million in settlements after the company alleged he stole one of their vehicles and kept it for nearly three months when he had only rented the car for a day.
Blake Gober, a 33-year-old former Marine and political consultant, said he rented a car from Hertz in 2019 to move from West Virginia to northern Virginia, but returned it to an airport kiosk. The company claimed, however, that Gober kept the car for more than three months, despite reaching out to him several times to return the car with no success.
Gober was arrested on a felony theft charge last year and spent a week in jail, which he told CBS News he wouldn't wish on anyone.
"It was hell. It was the worst," he told CBS.
Following the report, the state prosecutor handling the case in West Virginia filed a motion to dismiss, saying the state had "lost confidence in the reliability of the information" the rental car company provided as a basis for the felony charges.
Gober said he originally rented a car to move from his former West Virginia home, but only had the car for a day and before returning it to the company's kiosk at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
Gober said he returned the car in the evening and left it there since there was no employee that could receive it, but believed he could do that since he is a Hertz Gold customer, said Travis Prince, one of Gober's defense attorneys.
"For Hertz to issue a warrant for my arrest and to put me and my family through this is unconscionable," Gober said in a statement.
Hertz claimed Gober never informed the company he had returned the car, claiming it had "reached out repeatedly to Mr. Gober regarding its car, including by email, texts, phone calls, and certified mail. Mr. Gober ignored all of Hertz’s outreach, save one phone call during which he hung up on a Hertz representative when asked to return the vehicle."
Gober told his attorneys and the media he didn't recall getting any email, phone calls, or letters from Hertz, and that they must have used incorrect or outdated contact information. However, Hertz said that it used the information he provided at the time of his rental, and that one time he hung up on a company representative attempting to recover the car after identifying himself on the phone.
Further, the company emphasized that it didn't file a theft report with the police department in Morgantown, West Virginia, where Gober got the car, until 53 days after the due date following multiple failed attempts to reach him.
Hertz filed the police report on Jan. 13, 2020. A little over a month later, Gober claims the rental car mysteriously reappeared at an apartment building in Alexandria, Virginia, having amassed "a whopping 7,492 miles on it" since he'd left it at the airport.
Prince, the defense attorney, said Gober "was beyond shocked that these charges were out there."
"Our goal all along for Mr. Gober has been to secure his freedom and to prevent his incarceration for allegations that were false, and things he did not do," Prince said.
Asked if his client might seek damages against Hertz, he said: "There is no justice without accountability. So, to that end, we are currently exploring all of our options."
Naples Daily News reporter Laura Layden contributed.
Related: Hertz agrees to pay $168 million to settle false arrest claims by hundreds of customers
More: Lawsuit: New Hertz continues a pattern of false arrests for rental car theft
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Theft charges against Hertz customer dropped after CBS report
