Driver Accused of Taking Payments, Not Delivering

Airport rides are supposed to solve one problem — getting you to a flight on time. But in South Windsor, police say two residents paid for that convenience and got neither the ride nor their money back. The new development is an arrest: Mitchell “Mitch” T. Kloter, 26, now faces charges tied to two 2025 cases involving his business, Eastern Rentals and Transportation. Police say the trips were booked, paid for, and then never delivered. (newportdispatch.com)? South Windsor police say Kloter was taken into custody on Friday, May 1, 2026, on two active arrest warrants. He was charged with two counts of second-degree larceny and two counts of illegal operation of a livery motor vehicle. Multiple reports identify him as 26 years old, and local coverage has tied him to Eastern Rentals and Transportation, an airport-ride business that had already drawn complaints elsewhere in Connecticut. (wtnh.com)er-fulfilled-nor-refunded/)) ### What do police say happened? The South Windsor cases center on two separate incidents from July and August 2025. Investigators say two town residents paid for airport transportation through Kloter’s business, but the rides never happened. Police also say the customers were not refunded. That matters because the alleged conduct is not just about bad service — it is framed as taking payment for a service that was never provided. (newportdispatch.com) ### Why the livery charge too? That part points to the business itself. South Windsor police say Kloter was charged not only with larceny but also with illegal operation of a livery motor vehicle. Basically, investigators are saying there may have been a permitting or licensing problem on top of the alleged non-delivery. A Better Business Bureau listing from 2025 said Connecticut transportation regulators had no permit or license on file for Eastern Transportation and Rentals, though that is a separate public claim, not the South Windsor criminal case itself. (wtnh.com) ### Is this just a South Windsor story? Turns out, no. The same business had already surfaced in a wider wave of complaints. NBC Connecticut reported in September 2025 that police and the BBB were looking into a Coventry-area transportation provider accused of taking money for airport rides and not showing up. FOX61 said nearly a dozen people had reported similar problems involving Eastern Transportation and Rentals. So South Windsor looks less like an isolated mix-up and more like another stop in a bigger pattern investigators have been tracking. (nbcconnecticut.com) ### What made customers vulnerable here? Airport rides are a weirdly high-pressure service. You usually book ahead, you often prepay, and when the car does not show, you do not have time to negotiate. You just scramble and pay somebody else. That is the catch in cases like this — the customer loses money once on the original booking and then again on the emergency replacement ride. The BBB’s scam tracker includes a complaint describing exactly that kind of Logan Airport booking problem tied to Kloter’s business in summer 2025. (bbb.org) ### What happens next? The charges are allegations, not convictions. But the arrest means the South Windsor cases have moved beyond complaints and into formal criminal proceedings. If more towns file charges, the legal pressure on the business and its owner could widen fast. (stamfordadvocate.com) ### What should riders take from this? The practical lesson is simple — if a small transportation compan(bbb.org)hether complaints already exist, and whether there is a real refund trail. In this case, South Windsor police say two residents paid first and got stranded later. That is the whole story in one line, and it is why the case matters beyond one town. (newportdispatch.com)oes. South Windsor police are treating the missing rides as criminal conduct, not just lousy customer service, and the same business had already been drawing heat across Connecticut. If the allegations hold up, the real product being sold was not transportation at all — it was false reassurance right before a flight. (newportdispatch.com)