Montreal artisan pulled over by police, handcuffed for stolen van mix-up
Montreal artisan Kelly Acevedo was on her way to a major craft fair in Toronto, when she was pulled over just east of Toronto.
"It was five policemen and three cars who pulled us over and took us down from the car and put the handcuffs," Acevedo told CBC.
She was arrested for being in possession of a stolen vehicle.
"Oh, it was terrible. I was so afraid, I was shaking. I didn't know what was happening," Acevedo said, adding that she spent about an hour in the back of a police cruiser.
Acevedo, who owns a small girls' clothing business called Taco de Pato, rented a van with a friend from Discount Car Rental in Montreal's Saint-Laurent borough.
It turns out the van had indeed been stolen — but not by Acevedo.
Rental van stolen months ago
It was returned to Discount Car Rental months ago, and the company told the police about its return.
But somehow, it never got crossed off the list of stolen vehicles.
Doug Hurley, the head of security for Discount Car Rental, is also a former Montreal police officer. He said sometimes things like this can happen.
"Over my career of 30-some-odd years, we have seen mistakes like this occur. Sometimes it's an error typing in, or whatever. But again, there's many different reasons why these errors occur."
Police made a couple of phone calls to straighten out the situation, and Acevedo was finally free to go.
She is driving back to Montreal next week in the same van, and she's hoping for a less eventful drive.
"I hope it doesn't happen again."
