DENVER — Denver vehicle owners who use Turo told Denver7 they will continue renting out their vehicles despite the recent incidents in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
Las Vegas investigators on Thursday announced the driver of the Cybertruck that exploded out of the Trump Hotel on New Year's Day shot himself before the explosion, which injured 7 people.
Officials confirmed the suspect is Matthew Livelsberger, 37, from Colorado Springs. They also revealed that the suspect rented the Cybertruck through the app Turo and picked it up in Denver on Dec. 28, 2024.
Hours prior, a Texas man and fellow Army veteran drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14 and injuring dozens more. Turo has also confirmed that the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack was rented using the platform, too.
Authorities said Thursday the two men likely overlapped at Fort Bragg and again in Afghanistan. There was not, however, evidence that suggested the two men were assigned to the same unit or even knew each other.
Authorities had been investigating the link as a possible connection between the two New Year's Day attacks, but FBI officials said Thursday in New Orleans that there was "no definitive link" between the two events.
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Turo is a peer-to-peer car rental service that has been around for several years. The online platform allows car owners to rent their own vehicles directly to other nearby drivers, or “guests.” “Hosts” set their prices, availability and delivery options for renters to choose from and book via Turo's website or app.
"It's been about six years into the business," said Randy Vigianni, a Denver Turo host. "I have about 42 cars."
Vigianni has been a host on the app for years. He first added his pickup truck.
"Then I got a Mercedes car because I really wanted a Mercedes, and I started doing some Turo with that, too," he said. "Then kind of got addicted along the way and started adding as many as I could."
While the New Orleans and Las Vegas incidents both involved vehicles rented through Turo, hosts like Vigiann told Denver7 they aren't deterred from using it.
"When you do so much business as Turo, [which] is one of the largest now rental companies out there, if you do business with, like, 1,000 people, you're going to get one or two bad ones," Vigianni said. "I think it could have easily been another rental car company car, or they could have just stolen a car off the street. It just so happened to be a Turo car."
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Chris Smith, another Denver Turo host, shared a similar mindset.
"I think there's always going to be trouble," he said. "I mean, any business like this where you have an asset that's mobile, that people can get relatively easily, is going to be a challenge."
"I've had issues with accidents, broken windshields, hail, car theft. I mean, you name it," Smith added.
Denver7 reached out to Turo for specifics on its vetting process and security measures. The car rental service issued a statement, saying in part, "These individuals in question had valid driver’s licenses, clean background checks, and were honorably discharged from the US military. They could have boarded any plane, checked into a hotel, or rented a car or truck from a traditional vehicle rental chain. We do not believe these two individuals would have been flagged by anyone – including Big Rental or law enforcement."
Full statement:
We remain shocked and saddened by yesterday’s horrific events, and our hearts are with the victims and their families. We are outraged by the misuse of our marketplace by the two individuals who perpetrated these acts.
Every Turo renter is screened through a proprietary multi-layer, data-science-based trust and safety process. We utilize over 50 internal and external data sources to build, maintain, and improve on our best-in-class Turo Risk Score.
These individuals in question had valid driver’s licenses, clean background checks, and were honorably discharged from the US military. They could have boarded any plane, checked into a hotel, or rented a car or truck from a traditional vehicle rental chain. We do not believe these two individuals would have been flagged by anyone – including Big Rental or law enforcement.
Turo operates a safe and trusted marketplace. As of September 30, 2024, we have collected data from over 90 million booked days, 27 million trips, 8.6 billion miles driven, through 12 years of operating history, less than 0.10% of Turo trips end with a serious incident such as a vehicle theft.
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