‘It was horrible, it was degrading’: This Pittsburgh mom was left in jail for six days after a rental car mixup — here’s how to protect yourself

What happened

According to the lawsuit, Brissett had rented a Kia Sedona on Oct. 3, 2016, in order to move her family from Las Vegas to Pittsburgh. A few days later, on Oct. 9, she’d called the car rental service to ask for an extension until Nov. 1.

Brissett said she spoke to an Enterprise Rent-a-Car employee who instructed her to return it on the new agreed-upon date and to leave the keys under the front seat. Brissett returned the car a day early, on Oct. 31.

However, unbeknownst to Brissett, a criminal complaint was filed in Nevada on Dec. 9, 2016, in which she faced a felony charge for embezzling a rental vehicle. The accusation, strangely, stated Brissett’s actions took place on Aug. 5, 2016 — two months before she’d even rented the Kia Sedona.

She later received an email on Feb. 23, 2017, confirming that she had returned the vehicle on time. Brissett put the entire debacle out of her mind until, seven years later, when she was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction and discovered there was a warrant out for her arrest.

Brissett was arrested in front of her children, one of whom was only one year old, and languished in jail for six days before being released on bail.

According to her attorney, Christian Morris, “after we filed this lawsuit, they recently — just three days ago [in February 2024] — sent a letter to Danielle saying, ‘Hey, you damaged this vehicle. Report to your insurance or send us your credit card.’ It is compounding issues upon issues.”

Enterprise Rent-a-Car has declined to comment due to pending litigation.

Meet Your Retirement Goals Effortlessly

The road to retirement may seem long, but with WiserAdvisor, you can find a trusted partner to guide you every step of the way

WiserAdvisor matches you with vetted financial advisors that offer personalized advice to help you to make the right choices, invest wisely, and secure the retirement you've always dreamed of. Start planning early, and get your retirement mapped out today.

Get Started

Steps for returning a car rental

Although Brissett’s situation is certainly unique in that she did everything right in returning her vehicle, there are preventative measures that can be taken to avoid a similar situation.

The “8 News Now” team recommended dropping rental cars off directly with an agent — as opposed to placing the keys under a seat and leaving the vehicle unattended in a parking lot, as Brissett was instructed to do by the Enterprise employee. This would eliminate any confusion and offer customers the opportunity to request a paper receipt.

In instances where the car rental service is closed, “8 News Now” suggested locking the car rental and leaving the keys in a specified dropbox.

Once you’ve picked up your rental vehicle, take plenty of pictures and videos to document the condition in which you’ve received the car. Follow those same steps before returning it as well just in case you’re ever charged for damages down the road.

Save all emails and general correspondence pertaining to the car rental so there’s a paper and digital trail of any and all interactions should any issues arise.

Finally, eliminate the hassle of additional fees by ensuring that your rental vehicle is clean and fuelled up before returning it, as many companies have hefty cleaning service charges.