FLORIDA, United States – A 24-year-old Jamaican woman who once worked as a security guard at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport’s car rental centre is facing 13 felony charges after detectives accused her of conspiring with three men to steal a dozen vehicles from Hertz.

According to a report from Local 10, Savannah Harsha Phillips, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and now lives in Sunrise Florida, appeared Wednesday before Broward County Circuit Judge Thomas J Coleman for arraignment.

Prosecutors say she played a central role in a theft ring that allowed cars to leave the Hertz parking garage without authorisation on May 16 and May 17.

According to a Broward Sheriff’s Office detective, Phillips used her position to let drivers “exit the Hertz parking garage without showing a driver’s licence and pretending to scan the vehicles as they exited.”

The 12 stolen cars included multiple Kia K4 sedans, Nissan Altimas, a Hyundai Sonata, a Toyota Corolla, and a Nissan Sentra. Investigators later discovered that some of the vehicles were linked to crimes in other states, including a black Kia K4 connected to incidents in Texas and a white Toyota Corolla tied to crimes in Virginia.

Detectives noted that Phillips had “access to all Hertz company vehicles, knew the keys would be inside them, and was aware of the slowest times of business to commit the crime.”

Phillips was arrested at her Sunrise home on August 26 and booked into the Paul Rein Detention Facility. She faces charges including first-degree organised fraud, five counts of second-degree grand theft, and seven counts of third-degree grand theft.

A bond court judge set bail at US$62,000 but ordered Phillips to prove the funds do not come from criminal proceeds.