American Woman 'Sassy Trucker' Being Held in Dubai, Accused of Violating Behavior Laws by Screaming at Car Rental Worker
A Houston woman who used the good old American custom of yelling at a clerk has found out that Dubai takes a dim view of such behavior.
Tierra Young Allen, who calls herself Sassy Trucker online and bills herself as one of social media’s few female trucking influencers, is currently not allowed to leave Dubai while authorities debate possible charges against her, according to the Daily Mail.
Tina Baxter, Allen’s mother, said the misadventure “could result in prison time. So it’s very scary,” according to KRIV-TV.
Baxter said Allen was a passenger in a rental car that was involved in an accident. When she sought to get her ID, credit card and other items that were in the car, complications arose.
“She found out she could only receive those items if she paid an undisclosed amount of money. She dealt with a very aggressive individual a young man there who was screaming at her,” Baxter said.
Tierra Young Allen has been in Dubai custody for over two months after being arrested for allegedly screaming in public.
https://t.co/We1MBFXKQ0— ESSENCE (@Essence) July 19, 2023
Her daughter yelled back, which resulted in her being charged for screaming in public.
“She is in jail for one reason and one reason alone, she raised her voice. In that country, a female is not even allowed to raise her voice. If she raises her voice it’s punishable by jail time,” community activist Quanell X said.
Radha Stirling, CEO of the group Detained in Dubai, said there is more at work than one law, according to KRIV-TV.
“The agency actually said to her, they’d drop the police case if she paid money. So it’s a form of extortion and blackmail, and it’s extremely common with these rental car companies,” she said.
“I founded Detained in Dubai when a friend of mine was wrongfully detained, and we raised these issues of injustice, corruption and of malicious prosecution. We’ve dealt with over 20,000 cases of injustice in the UAE and wider gulf region,” Stirling said, noting that although Allern is not in jail, her passport was confiscated and she cannot leave the UAE.
Tierra Young Allen, Truck Driver TikTok Star, Is Detained in #Dubai!
She is accused of ‘Screaming’ at a rental car agent.Will she get the #BrittneyGriner treatment and get her home sooner than later? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/GOIca0H58J
— WOKEVIDEO (@wokevideo) July 16, 2023
“She’s being charged for shouting, which is actually a crime technically under the UAE laws. It’s offensive behavior, and it can warrant up to two years in prison,” Stirling said.
Stirling said she believes Allen was set up.
“She was met with two men at the rental car agency who were quite aggressive, who said she couldn’t have her possessions back, and then she says they started intimidating her and following her out. So she shouted back at them to stop, to leave her alone,” she said.
Baxter told KRIV the long-running incident has been “very emotional. There are some days I stay up all night crying.”
“It’s very frightening. The longer she’s been there the more reality has started to kick in,” Baxter said.
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