Houston Woman Who Was Held In Dubai For Months Over Altercation At Car Rental Agency Is Finally Allowed To Return Home

Houston Woman Who Was Held In Dubai For Months Over Altercation At Car Rental Agency Is Finally Allowed To Return Home

A Houston woman who was stranded in Dubai for months over an altercation at a car rental agency has finally left the country and is headed back to the U.S.

Tierra Young Allen – known online as Sassy Trucker – is speaking out about the ordeal she faced and how she almost didn’t make it back home. Allen was arrested in Dubai back in May after she was involved in a fender bender which saw a rental vehicle impounded along with her phone and credit cards

Once back at the rental agency, Allen was allegedly told she could only have her items back if she paid an undisclosed amount. This led to police being called after an argument ensured between Allen and an employee of the car company.

Thankfully, Allen was assisted by Detained in Dubai – a non-profit that assists US citizens and other foreign nationals who find themselves incarcerated in the popular city.  According to NGO Detained in Dubai’s chief executive Radha Stirling,

“The police changed their story regarding the charges against her as soon as her case hit the headlines; falsely claiming that Tierra had been verbally abusive, when initially they only stated that she had raised her voice.”

Tierra Young Allen

Stirling continued,

“Eventually a civil case was filed against her in what appeared to be a doubling-down by police officials. Tierra’s case is a reminder that foreign nationals in the UAE are still routinely targeted. The legal system is used against them maliciously by locals to extort and intimidate them precisely because they are vulnerable and enjoy no substantial legal protections.”

Allen ultimately paid a $1,360 fee to the police in order to lift the travel ban so she could leave. Authorities eventually returned her passport, but a Dubai Court was still making demands for payment just an hour before her flight took off. Airport officials told her she was banned from returning to the United Arab Emirates once they finally allowed her to board the plane.

Allen said,

“I was never thinking twice about coming back. I was so stressed every day.”

Allen’s mother Tina Baxter fought to keep her daughter’s situation in the spotlight, which greatly helped her case.

Stirling thanked Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for their help in securing Allen’s freedom.

Stirling also touched on how media plays a “crucial” role in holding people accountable for their wrong actions. He said,

“This case highlights, once again, the crucial role played by the media, and by the public, in demanding accountability and justice in the UAE. Tierra was living a nightmare and facing fines and lengthy imprisonment, until her case was brought into the spotlight of international media scrutiny. Without that attention, all too often, Emirati authorities pay little heed to due process, fairness, and human rights.”

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