US influencer Sassy Trucker, 29, has been RELEASED from Dubai and allowed to fly home to the US three months after being banned from leaving for yelling at a car rental company employee
A Texas influencer spoke of her relief when she escaped Dubai three months after being banned from leaving the country.
Tierra Young Allen previously had her passport confiscated after yelling at a car rental company employee — and it was thought she risked two years in prison.
Allen, who goes by the name of Sassy Trucker, paid a $1,360 fee to police to lift the travel ban so she could leave, according to Dubai NGO Detained.
But her joy turned to horror when she was pulled over by immigration officials at the Gulf state airport just before her flight was due to depart.
‘I was so scared. I thought they were sending me to prison,” she told Radha Stirling, the NGO’s general manager.
Tierra Young Allen, 29, was arrested in Dubai in May after an altercation at a rental company
Tierra is from California but lives in Texas. She spent three months in Dubai before being released
Tierra calls herself one of the few female trucking influencers in the world. She has visited Dubai several times in the past and always documents her trip on social media. She can be seen on a previous trip
The 29-year-old was arrested in Dubai in May after being involved in a fender bender in which a rental car was seized along with her phone and credit cards, she said.
Once back at the rental company, she claims she was told she could only get them back if she paid an undisclosed amount.
She fought back, argued with the employee who made the apparent demand, and the police were called.
Tierra calls herself one of the few female trucking influencers in the world. She has visited Dubai several times in the past and always documents her trip on social media.
Allen was assisted by Detained in Dubai – a non-profit organization that helps US citizens and other foreigners trapped there.
“The police changed their story about the charges against her as soon as her case hit the headlines; falsely claiming that Tierra had been verbally abusive when they initially stated only that she had raised her voice,” Stirling said.
Eventually a civil case was brought against her in what appeared to be a duplication by police officers.
Tierra’s case is a reminder that foreigners are still routinely targeted in the UAE.
The influencer has visited Dubai before, but told Stirling she feared her detention would continue after a final confrontation with airport security
Allen’s mother Tina Baxter fought to keep her daughter’s case in the spotlight
Allen is a pioneering female truck driver who has documented her travels to the Middle East
Previous trips to Dubai have gone without a hitch and Allen had praised the country in previous social media posts
The Texan influencer has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media
“The legal system is being used maliciously against them by the local population to extort and intimidate them precisely because they are vulnerable and lack substantial legal protection.”
Police eventually returned her passport, but an hour before her flight departed, a Dubai court was still sending requests for payment.
Airport officials told her she was forbidden from returning to the Gulf Kingdom because they finally allowed her to board the plane.
“I never thought twice about coming back,” Allen said.
“I was so stressed every day.”
Allen’s mother Tina Baxter fought to keep her daughter’s cause in the spotlight, Stirling thanked Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for helping to secure Allen’s freedom.
But she said international attention to Allen’s plight was crucial to swaying Emerati officials.
“This case once again highlights the critical role the media and public play in demanding accountability and justice in the UAE,” she added.
Tierra lived a nightmare, risking fines and long prison terms, until her case came under the spotlight of international media attention.
“Without that attention, the Emirati authorities all too often pay little attention to due process, fairness and human rights.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, helped secure Allen’s release and says scams, such as paying for your documents and calling back, are common in the Gulf Kingdom
Recently, two Americans agreed to pay extortion money to a car rental company, only to get their passports back and go home.
“If they didn’t pay, they were still there, possibly in jail.”
A spokesman for Senator Cruz previously said, “We have spoken with Tierra Young Allen’s family and have contacted the State Department regarding the matter.
‘Sen. Cruz will continue to gather details and deal with this case until Mrs. Allen returns home to her family.”