American college student arrested in Denmark speaks out: ‘We had done nothing wrong’

One of the Americans detained nearly two weeks in Denmark for a supposed attack on Uber driver while visiting Copenhagen on his spring vacation at college, he said he was “shocked” that he and his friend were arrested and maintained that they were innocent.

“We were both just very shocked by the fact that we were arrested for this incident,” Owen Ray told Good Morning America on Monday, hours after he and his friend were released. “We had done nothing wrong,” Ray added.

Ray, 19, who studied at the University of Miami in Ohio, and his unnamed friend were detained at Copenhagen airport on April 1 because of an alleged dispute with Uber driver on the night before, Jordan Finfer, a US-based lawyer for Ray’s family, told Abc News. Local police detained them while heading home after they considered them “risks to flights”, claiming they were planning to escape from the incident, he said.

In an account, handed over to Finfer, who then shared the details with ABC News, Ray said that he and his friend realized that they had introduced the wrong address for their destination – and the Uber driver refused to take them anywhere else.

Ray said they had decided to cancel their Uber and left the vehicle. Then, after going out a few blocks, the Uber driver pulled out, got out of the car and “started shouting at us, thinking that he was not paid for Uber, but in fact he was paid for Uber,” Ray said.

“Then he went into our faces and said,” I’ll call 10 boys, “Ray said.

“We said,” We did nothing wrong. We have done nothing wrong. “Then he started a dispute with us,” Ray said.

“The safety of all using the Uber app is a top priority and we take very seriously violent messages,” a Uber spokesman said in a statement to ABC News on Sunday. “Any additional questions about the investigation must be directed to the Danish police,” the announcement is added.

Copenhagen police said the two students were charged with a common attack.

After his arrest, Ray said he thought he would be able to explain to the judge what had happened and was released.

“But then we went to the judge and in fact they told us that we would be imprisoned in a Danish prison for 10 days,” he said.

Ray said he was not able to call the phone for 36 hours after his arrest and did not know if his parents even knew where he was.

“Initially, I was very worried to make sure I could come in contact,” he said.

He said he was able to send a message to his mother from a phone to court and she eventually flies to Denmark.

“I was very relieved that I heard that she was able to do it, and grateful that she was able,” Ray said. “I am very grateful to my family and everyone else who supports me throughout this situation.”

Ray said it also helped that he and his friend had each other while being detained.

“We read books, played cards, played chess, and fortunately we were able to go through it in good mental state,” he said.

Their initial 10-day, pre-trial detention against the background of the incident investigation, was subsequently extended to April 24, a Copenhagen police spokesman told ABC News.

Ray said his Danish lawyer filed a complaint last week and the judge ruled in their favor on Monday, releasing them.

The teenager said that the Danish authorities have their passports and they should register with the police daily until they receive an update on the case. He said he believed that they were waiting either for investigating authorities to refuse the case or to have a specified trial date.

Ray said that he and his friend were in good mental state and that he plans to maintain a positive attitude towards the test while hoping for it to be allowed soon.

“I just hope that Denmark and the legal authorities here are able – and the US government can help us and do everything we can to help us be released from Easter, so I can get home with my family,” Ray said.

“I think the best case would be the Danish police and the prosecutor to refuse the case at this point, since we are completely innocent and they would bring us their passports and allow us to return to the United States,” he said.

A US Department of State spokesman said in a statement on Sunday that they “are aware of media reports of two US citizens detained in Denmark. Employees at our Copenhagen embassy provide consular assistance.”

“The department has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad,” the statement continued. “Due to confidentiality considerations, we have no more comments.”