Metro Atlanta man got pulled over in a rental car. Turns out, it was reported stolen

ATLANTA — Body camera video showing Jeffery Elinor being pulled over Tuesday evening in Carrollton left him surprised.

“My anxiety rose through the roof…I just hear, pull over, and I see a bunch of guns drawn at me,” Elinor said.

He spoke with Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln and told her after he was handcuffed, he was stunned when police told him, they pulled him over because the car he was driving in was stolen.

“I’m like that’s impossible, I just rented this vehicle at 1 p.m.,” said Elinor.

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Channel 2 Action News obtained a police report from the Carrollton Police Department that states a Flock camera alerted officers about the stolen SUV.

“Somebody didn’t do the due diligence that they had to do at work, and that led to a paying customer having to go through a traumatizing experience,” Elinor said.

Police searched his car and inside they discovered his AVIS receipt.

Police eventually released Elinor and allowed him to take the car back to AVIS.

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Elinor told Lincoln to double down on the disappointment, the customer service agent told him that has happened before.

“He told me this happens one in the blue, I guess I am the blue,” Elinor said.

Channel 2 Action News reached out to AVIS for a comment, but they have not responded.

This isn’t the first rental car company to face these types of allegations.

In 2022, Channel 2 Action News reported Hertz car rental paid $168 million in a bogus rental car theft lawsuit. Customers across the country were wrongfully accused of stealing cars that were legally rented.

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