Family members of a Chicago student imprisoned in Denmark over a dispute with an Uber driver say he has been released after two weeks behind bars, but he still cannot return to the U.S.
The parents of Owen Ray, an Ohio college student from Chicago, said he was released from a Danish prison Monday after being arrested while attempting to fly home on April 1. But the family said Ray still cannot return home as authorities confiscated his passport and “will not allow him to return to the United States.”
“We are relieved that Owen has been released from a Danish prison following the unprovoked assault he and his friend suffered at the hands of an Uber driver on March 31. However, we remain deeply concerned that Danish authorities have confiscated his passport and will not allow him to return to the United States – something we understand is unusual in Danish court proceedings,” Andy Ray and Sara Buchen-Ray said in a statement. “The facts make clear that Owen is the victim in this case, and we urge Danish officials to allow him to return home to the United States without delay.”
According to a family spokesperson, Ray, who graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago and now attends Miami University in Ohio, was traveling for spring break with a friend on March 31 in Copenhagen when the pair ordered an Uber to return to their hotel. They realized after they entered their car that they had selected the wrong hotel and were unable to change the location in the Uber app, the spokesperson said.
The driver declined to take them to the new location and the pair exited the Uber and canceled their ride, paying a “canceled fare” fee via the app, according to the spokesperson.
As they waited for another Uber to pick them up, the original driver returned and the students said the driver alleged he was not paid. The pair said they had paid in the app, but a physical altercation ensued and the two fled the scene, the spokesperson said.
The encounter and subsequent altercation were captured on the Uber driver’s dashcam video, “which is now part of the legal proceedings in Denmark,” according to the Ray family spokesperson.
As the students prepared to depart the country on their flights home the next morning, they were arrested.
Ray was taken to Vestre prison and released from custody Monday.
Copenhagen police could not immediately be reached for information on the arrest.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said they are “aware of media reports of two U.S. citizens detained in Denmark” and staff at the U.S. embassy in Copenhagen “are providing consular assistance.”
“The Department has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Sen. Dick Durbin’s office said it has also been in contact with the family and with the embassy in Denmark “since being made aware of the situation.”
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