A woman from Houston is currently being held in Dubai because she yelled at a rental car worker. Apparently, the United Arab Emirates frowns upon such behavior in women.
Tierra Young Allen, known as Sassy Trucker online, was riding in a rental car in Dubai nearly two months ago when the vehicle was involved in an accident, according to her mother, Tina Baxter. Naturally, shortly after the accident, and realizing everyone was okay, Allen tried to retrieve her belongings from the car, including her wallet, ID, and credit card.
But the people working for the car rental company wouldn’t let her have them – at least not without additional payment. According to Baxter, “She dealt with a very aggressive individual, a young man there who was screaming at her.”
Then, she was arrested when she decided to scream back at the man.
According to multiple sources, her offense is punishable by up to two years of jail time should the UAE authorities decide to charge her.
CEO of the group Detained in Dubai, Radha Stirling, explains that unfortunately, this is an all too often occurrence in the UAE and surrounding Gulf region.
Stirling believes Allen was set up as so many others have. A problem arises, and suddenly, tourists like Allen are expected to pay for things that are already theirs. Additionally, it was reported that the entire police case would be dropped if she spent more money.
“So it’s a form of extortion and blackmail, and it’s extremely common with these rental car companies.” So far, Stirling’s group has “dealt with over 20,000” cases like this.
Now, to be sure, Allen is not in jail. Instead, she’s simply being detained in Dubai, meaning that she is not allowed to leave. Her passport and such have been confiscated, and so she’s just stuck there until authorities decide what to do with her.
As I mentioned, should she be charged, she will likely see up to two years in prison, Stirling confirmed.
Note to self, don’t rent a car in Dubai…