Ardoingolden

Suggestions pleaseTwo men traveling from Denver to Kansas City Missouri pulled over in Junction City Kansas for Coffee. They were pulled over by sheriff's department asked for rental agreement . Tag did NOT match car for no apparent reason they were separated and question after being asked if the were in a "relationship" ( they are gay) a search ensued they found small amount of marijuana. They were arrested and jailed. Without a chance to call Avis to remedy the situation . Then upon release after bind was posted and several charges for gas, hotel,
meals various fees had to pay to retrieve personal property from rental car. The sheriff's department seems to have lost near $400 in cash and two personal check books, tax forms W2's and a personal notebook containing website including financial and banking information etc with passwords were NOT returned . I thought it was illegal to discriminate? Much less to search a car that's been pulled over for a reason unbeknownst to driver. No crime committed .felonies and two misdemeanors later . If anyone can help or suggestions what to do n this situation please do .!

m907

It is not Avis's fault they had marijuana and were charged for it.

Often1

This has nothing to do with Avis.

All has to do with their violation of Kansas law and consequences. Good questions to be directed to their lawyer.

jizen

For legal advice it’s better to talk with a lawyer
Tell the lawyer with full stories/all details since no one can really help here for such issues

If they are charged or ticketed with anything related with the car like insurance/tags only, then Avis may deal with those directly on your behalf.

if they are charged or ticketed with marijuana or other things under local law, there will be certain consequences that are out of rental companies control.

So lawyer or legal aid will probably be the only option

LondonElite

What on earth does this have to do with Avis?

Card Junkie

You broke the law. Avis didn't.

arcticflier

Please explain where discrimination occurred.

It is fairly common for neighboring States of CO (where pot is legal) to crack down on travelers attempting to transport quantities of pot across State lines with no respect for the Laws of the neighboring States.

I would suggest these two people stop breaking the Law if they wish to avoid being ticketed or arrested.

As for all those missing items, perhaps they misplaced the items when they were stoned.

LondonElite

I think it is entirely possible that the poster was one of the two men.

IAHtraveler

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Off-topic comments, accusations and derogatory comments have been deleted (along with replies to such messages). Please keep the comments on-topic and have an adult conversation without accusations. Thank you, IAHtraveler.

IAHtraveler

Non-moderator note (I'm a human too and, sometimes, have things to add to the dialogue ): The OP mentioned "they [police] found small amount of marijuana". I wondered if they meant that the officer found marijuana that the OP/driver had placed in the vehicle, or weed that had been left by a prior renter. I've been in rental cars that very obviously smell like pot and often wonder how frequently someone is charged for belongings hidden in a car that they weren't even aware existed. Sure, the operator of a vehicle is responsible for all contents, but I don't rip the carpet/seats out of a car before pulling off of the Avis lot to ensure there's nothing hidden that I don't want in the car.

tom911

if the license plates didn’t match up to the vehicle, certainly possible that an Avis employee may have placed them on the wrong car when they came in. If something like that happened (say, for instance, Toyota plates attached to a Buick), and it caused the traffic stop, not sure I’d say it has nothing to do with Avis. Of course, also possible that someone with expired plates swapped them out along the way. Only way to know for sure is to find out who the plates on the vehicle were registered to, and that’s not apparent in the original post.

Often1

OP has not returned to clarify. But, I took it that he is one of the two people arrested and charged with some kind of marijuana offense.

It's unfortunate for him that an Avis error may have supplied the officers with the probable cause to search the vehicle, but it is what it is.

In the meantime, the only solid advice is to consult a lawyer. Some places take pot offenses more seriously than others, so competent local legal advice is important.

garykung

Let's analyze this one by one.

1. The police can run the VIN to pull up the vehicle in light of the tag issue. However, it is within the police's discretion.

2. The police can ask you anything as they want to. As it is a detention, you have the right to remain silence.

3. The "gay" response is irrelevant. The mismatched tag gave the probable cause to the police to search the car.

The arrest is legitimate. While it is true that many states allows recreational use of cannabis, the fact remains unchanged that cannabis is still a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substance Act and it is still a federal offense to possess cannabis. Given the vehicle traveled from CO to KS (at least based on the RA), the cannabis in question traveled interstate. Also, KS is not one of the states has legalized cannabis.

The police is within its authority under both federal and KS law (Note - while the police does not work for the federal government, the police can in fact transfer them to the federal government for further processing).

As arrestee, you do have the right to a phone call, consulting an attorney. Calling Avis is not the solution here. Also - the reason for the arrest was not even related to Avis.

Because the arrest is legitimate, the arrestees would have to eat the cost.

Are the properties lost by the Sheriff's Department or are they still under detention? Just because the arrestees released on bail, it did not mean the Sheriff had to release the property, pending the conclusion of the investigation.

The document provided during release would tell whether they are detained. If lost, the arrestees can file a claim against the Sheriff.

Discrimination was not the case here. Just because the police asked an inappropriate question, it did not mean the police has discriminated. Again - because the arrestees opened their mouths. So the arrestees can only blame themselves for the situation.

Whether it was Avis' fault, the police has the authority to pull over any vehicles when they see suspicious.

Are you sure?

Assuming the incident has not been concluded:

1. Hire a lawyer to plea bargain the case without a criminal record. If they get the right lawyer and the right DA, they can get out of this without a criminal record. But it is going to cost them.

2. Avis did have some liabilities in this. At the minimum, it is obligated to provide a vehicle that was compliant with the law. When it failed, it was a breach of contract. So they could in theory seek damages against Avis. But keep in mind - Avis' liabilities were limited by the breach. So the damages were quite small (the value of the RA). I am not sure it is worth to deal with this.

garykung

New FTers are post limited. So it may explain they did not come back as often as expected.

(Mod - Please keep this post separate.)

arcticflier

Fair enough; however, when I get into a rental vehicle and perform the search for dents and scratches, I immediately request a new rental car if it has any unpleasant odors.

Since all of us are guessing at the actual events, including the OP, I would reckon the LEO found the two male occupants “suspicious” and did his job and further investigated the circumstances. Two 20 to 30’ish males driving a rental car combined with direction of travel combined with other observations would be worth a closer look. Trafficking marijuana and its derivatives illegally out of the State of Colorado and to States which it is still illegal is commonplace and has been a scourge for CO neighbors.

I would also like to clarify that we are not provided with the amount of illegal drugs that were discovered; however, individuals in possession of small quantities (as was reported by OP) are ticketed for minor infraction and not arrested—this is particularly true in the time of Covid.

Since we are guessing, I would also say that IF the couple were actually missing all the items suggested, that it is quite odd they are more concerned about Avis role in this misadventure than attempting to pursue their allegedly stolen items.

Sorry folks, but this is the problem with forums acting on limited 3rd Party details. Especially details which any LEO would immediately recognize do not pass the sniff test...haha