Karen Maloof spent a year learning to play golf in anticipation of a trip to Ireland with her husband. But as they sat at the gate at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta for their flight to Europe in May 2023, she was met by armed federal agents and police dogs.

Unbeknownst to her, she had a warrant out for her arrest for stealing a U-Haul in Palm Bay, Florida. The problem? She had not stolen a U-Haul, nor had she even been to Palm Bay. Nonetheless, she says, cops paraded her through the airport in handcuffs and threw her into a Clayton County Jail, where she spent three days in a cell with meth addicts and confused as to why she was there.

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Now Maloof, 54, of Georgia, is suing the Palm Bay Police Department for unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution. According to the lawsuit filed this month in the U.S. Middle District of Florida, the mix-up began back in 2017 she reported her driver’s license stolen. The ID resurfaced on Nov. 13, 2022, when thieves used it to rent a U-Haul online. They also submitted a fake telephone number, email address and physical address in Florida that did not match Maloof’s actual address in Georgia to complete the rental, the lawsuit said.

The crooks also provided a “selfie” photograph that was supposed to look like Maloof — but, according to the lawsuit, actually bore little resemblance.

Left: Karen Maloof (Morgan & Morgan). Right: The woman thieves claimed to be Maloof when they rented a U-Haul, a lawsuit said (U.S. District Court).

After the truck was not returned, U-Haul sent a letter to the Florida address demanding the return of the vehicle but it was rejected because said address did not exist, the lawsuit said. Then U-Haul filed a report with Palm Bay police to pursue criminal charges against Maloof.

Maloof’s lawyers argue that “no reasonable police officer could have investigated the available evidence and concluded that Maloof was the suspect in the U-Haul theft.” Nonetheless, Palm Bay police Officer Cody Spaulding “without further inquiry” completed a probable cause arrest affidavit on charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle and failure to return hired or leased property, according to the lawsuit.

Maloof’s attorneys allege Spaulding failed to spot “obvious red flags,” such as the difference between the ID photos provided to U-Haul and between the Florida address and her actual address in Georgia, and the fact that U-Haul never had any in-person contact with the plaintiff. In addition, the email address and phone number the suspects provided to U-Haul had no correlation to Maloof, per the lawsuit.

Prosecutors obtained an indictment on the charges, but that was based on bad information, according to the complaint.