A TikToker out of Houston, Texas is in hot water in Dubai after an alleged outburst of bad behavior resulted in her passport being seized.

(Video Credit: FOX 26 Houston)

“The Sassy Trucker,” Tierra Allen, is trapped in a Middle Eastern country and could get years in prison there for her behavior, according to the New York Post. The London-based non-profit group Detained in Dubai announced on Monday that she was stranded there awaiting the conclusion of an investigation by authorities.

Allen, 29, tripped into trouble when she went to retrieve her personal belongings in April at a car rental shop. She was told by a hostile manager that she had to pay an unknown amount to get them back which led to a shouting incident and her passport being seized.

The day before the attempted extortion, her credit cards, debit cards, and cell phone had been impounded with her rental car following the TikToker and her friend being involved in a minor traffic accident.

“He followed me outside the office and I felt very intimidated. I told him to stop but instead, he called the police and opened a case against me, apparently for ‘screaming,’” Allen recounted.

@sasssy.trucker Truck Driving In Dubai #AEHolidayCard #dubai #AmazonSavingSpree #cdl #trending #fyp #truckdriving #dubaitruckdrivers ♬ One Night in Dubai – Arash

“I am in shock that he frightened me, I told him to stop, and now the police have said I can’t go home. I told them I had a medical emergency and needed to return to the US but they wouldn’t let me,” the Houston native added.

Illegal activities in Dubai include homosexual relationships, public displays of affection, dressing immodestly, and swearing or arguing in public, according to an advisory issued by travel firm HolidayExtras.

Police have been looking into Allen’s case for three months trying to decide whether to charge her for shouting in public. For a woman, that is considered offensive behavior and can get her up to two years in prison, according to Detained in Dubai CEO Radha Stirling.

Allen has not been imprisoned but she also can’t leave the country. Detained in Dubai believes the whole incident was part of a blackmail scheme implemented by the car rental agency. They also think that the police may be part of it.

I have been thru and to Dubai several times — I really don’t see why ANY western woman would want to visit a Muslim run country — It felt oppressive to me as a white male

— JimAaron (@ArOkTxNm1) July 22, 2023

“It is extremely common for rental car agencies to open cases against customers as a means to extort them. The hope is that whomever they perceive to be a ‘wealthy foreigner’ will offer them cash in order to drop the case,” Stirling commented via a statement.

“Holidaymakers will pay extortionate amounts just to get home to their families and jobs even when they know they are being taken advantage of. Rental car agencies cash in on the insurance money and extort victims on top. It’s business for them,” the CEO bluntly asserted.

The TikToker may have been targeted because she had expensive belongings and spent a great deal before her arrest. Being black and female may have also played into it.

The influencer chronicled her trips to the beach, dining out, and nightclub adventures on YouTube during her trip to the United Arab Emirates. She was supposed to be there for a month although she did hint in her video caption that she had moved to Dubai.

(Video Credit: The Sassy Trucker)

She visited the country with a group of lady truck drivers for a vacation. That reportedly led to her considering setting up a trucking business there. Allen had been in Dubai previously.

“I might be the first female truck driver to ever drive a semi-truck in Dubai,” she said in her video titled, “The Sassy Trucker Moved to Dubai?”

The female trucker told CNN in 2021 that she likes “to show that you can still be feminine in a male-dominated field.”

Allen’s family is desperately trying to get Texas officials to find a way to bring her home without paying the alleged blackmail sum. They have turned to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Sen. Ted Cruz for help.

Without intervention from her representatives, Tierra Allen faces #Dubai prison, a fine and deportation for “shouting” at the rental car agent who was intimidating her. We have reached out to @JacksonLeeTX18 and @tedcruz to help. @BusinessInsider @FoxNews @CNN @MSNBC

— Radha Stirling – CEO @detainedindubai (@RadhaStirling) July 17, 2023

“We have spoken to the family of Tierra Young Allen and have contacted the Department of State about the case,” Cruz’s office said in an interview with Fox 26. “Sen. Cruz will continue to gather details and engage on this case until Ms. Allen is returned home to her family.”

“It’s been very emotional. There are some days I stay up all night crying,” Allen’s clearly upset mother Tina Baxter told Fox 26. “It’s very frightening. The longer she’s been there the more reality has started to kick in.”

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