One of many People detained for practically two weeks in Denmark over an alleged assault in opposition to an Uber driver whereas visiting Copenhagen on their faculty spring break mentioned he was “shocked” that he and his good friend had been arrested and maintained that they’re harmless.
“We had been each simply very shocked about the truth that we had been being arrested over this incident,” Owen Ray instructed “Good Morning America” on Monday, hours after he and his good friend had been freed. “We had carried out nothing incorrect,” Ray added.
Ray, a 19-year-old finding out at Miami College in Ohio, and his unnamed good friend had been detained at Copenhagen Airport on April 1 over an alleged dispute with an Uber driver the evening prior, Jordan Finfer, a U.S.-based lawyer for Ray’s household, instructed ABC Information. Native police detained them whereas they had been heading residence after deeming them “flight dangers,” claiming they had been planning to run from the incident, he mentioned.
In an account relayed to Finfer, who then shared the small print with ABC Information, Ray mentioned he and his good friend realized that they had entered the incorrect handle for his or her vacation spot — and the Uber driver allegedly refused to take them anyplace else.
Ray mentioned they determined to cancel their Uber and left the car. Then, after they walked a number of blocks, the Uber driver pulled up, received out of the automotive and “began yelling at us, pondering he hadn’t been paid for the Uber, however in reality, he had been paid for the Uber,” Ray mentioned.
“He then received in our faces and was saying, ‘I am gonna name 10 guys,'” Ray mentioned.
“We mentioned, ‘We have carried out nothing incorrect. We have carried out nothing incorrect.’ He then began an altercation with us,” Ray mentioned.
Owen Ray speaks with “Good Morning America” from Denmark, April 14, 2025.
ABC Information
“The protection of everybody who makes use of the Uber app is a high precedence, and we take reviews of violence very significantly,” an Uber spokesperson mentioned in a press release to ABC Information on Sunday. “Any extra questions in regards to the investigation needs to be directed to the Danish police,” the assertion added.
Copenhagen police mentioned the 2 college students had been charged with frequent assault.
Following his arrest, Ray mentioned he thought he would be capable of clarify to a decide what occurred and be launched.
“However then we went to the decide, and we had been really instructed that we might be imprisoned in a Danish jail for 10 days,” he mentioned.
Ray mentioned he wasn’t in a position to make a telephone name for 36 hours after his arrest and did not know if his mother and father even knew the place he was.
“I used to be initially very fearful about ensuring that I may get into contact,” he mentioned.
He mentioned he was in a position to textual content his mom from a telephone at courtroom, and he or she ended up flying to Denmark.
“I used to be very relieved to have heard that she was ready to do this, and grateful that she was in a position to,” Ray mentioned. “I am very grateful to my household and everybody else who’s been supporting me all through this case.”
Ray mentioned it additionally helped that he and his good friend had one another whereas detained.
“We learn books, we performed playing cards, we performed chess and by chance we had been in a position to get by it in a great psychological state,” he mentioned.
Their preliminary 10-day, pre-trial detention amid the investigation into the incident was subsequently prolonged till April 24, a Copenhagen police spokesperson instructed ABC Information.
Ray mentioned his Danish lawyer filed an enchantment final week, and the decide dominated of their favor on Monday, releasing them.
The teenager mentioned Danish authorities have their passports they usually need to verify in with police every day till they get an replace on the case. He mentioned he believes they’re ready for both the investigating authorities to drop the case or for a trial date to be set.
Ray mentioned he and his good friend are in a great psychological state, and that he plans to keep up a optimistic perspective in regards to the ordeal whereas hoping for it to be resolved quickly.
“I simply hope that Denmark and the authorized authorities listed here are in a position to — and the U.S. authorities might help us and do what they will to assist us be launched by Easter, so I might be residence with my household,” Ray mentioned.
“I feel the most effective case could be for the Danish police and the prosecutor to drop the case at this level, as a result of we’re fully harmless, and for them to return us our passports and permit us to go again to the USA,” he mentioned.
A U.S. State Division spokesperson mentioned in a press release on Sunday that they’re “conscious of media reviews of two U.S. residents detained in Denmark. Employees at our embassy in Copenhagen are offering consular help.”
“The Division has no greater precedence than the protection and safety of U.S. residents overseas,” the assertion continued. “On account of privateness issues, we now have no additional remark.”
