n. an automobile loaned in exchange for crack
cocaine.
This term has been especially
common in
New Orleans, Louisiana.
A synonym is "crack ride" or rent-a-rock.
Citations:
1992 Joe Darby, Greg Thomas Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.) (Aug. 11) “West Bank School
Football Star Pleads Guilty To Drug Charge” p. A1: The dropped public records charge stemmed from what Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. John Fortunato called a “rock rental,” where someone loans an automobile in exchange for a rock of
cocaine.
1996 Michael Perlstein Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.) (May 30) “Probation A Safety Net Rife With Holes” p. A1: He admitted he was driving a “rock rental”—a car loaned to him in exchange for crack
cocaine—when he rammed into another car.
1997 Louis Edwards N: A Novel (
May) p. 52 @ (
May, 1998): “A rock rental.…I gave somebody a rock and they let me borrow they car. Just for a day or so. Plus they owed me for another time.” “So you deal crack.”
1998 WGNO-TV @ New Orleans, La. (Video Monitoring Services of America) (Nov. 11) “Television”: C. Hearn
Taylor, Juvenile Judge, said there are rock rentals where you can get a
gun for a rock.
2005 TCPalm.com (Stuart, Florida) (Sept. 28) “Police recover car allegedly used in drive-by shooting” (in Fort Pierce): Police also arrested Richard LaWayne Simmons,
18, of the 1200 block of McCray Court in Fort Pierce for allegedly stealing the car through a practice known as a “rock rental.” According to a police report, Simmons arranged to “borrow” the dark
blue 1998 Acura for an hour Thursday night in exchange for crack-
cocaine.
