OXFORD, Ohio — Two American college students, including a 20-year-old Miami University undergrad, were released from a Danish prison Monday following an alleged altercation with an Uber driver earlier this month.
Owen Ray and his friend were arrested and detained by Danish authorities on April 1 while waiting to board their flight back to Chicago, according to a spokesperson for the Ray family. The two were in Denmark on a spring break trip.
"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," Ray's parents, Andy and Sara Buchen-Ray, said in a statement shared with WCPO.
Sara Buchen-Ray spoke with our ABC affiliate in Chicago over the weekend. During that interview, she described the situation as an Uber ride gone wrong.
"Our son was supposed to come home from Copenhagen ... he's supposed to land in four hours from O'Hare," Buchen-Ray said. "I woke up to a text message that said, 'Mom, I'm in prison in Copenhagen. Call the U.S. Embassy.'"
Watch here for more on the "Uber ride gone wrong" that led to a Miami University student's two-week stay in a Danish prison:
According to a family spokesperson, Ray and a friend ordered an Uber to return to their hotel in Copenhagen. Once in the car, they realized they had inadvertently selected the wrong hotel and were unable to change the location in the Uber app.
The driver allegedly declined to take them to the alternate location, so Ray and his friend exited the Uber and canceled the ride.
The boys started walking toward their hotel and sought another Uber to take them to their hotel, the spokesperson said. Minutes later, the original Uber driver allegedly returned and began threatening the boys because he believed he was not paid. The boys assured him that he would be paid in the app.
The spokesperson shared Ray's Uber receipts with WCPO. They show the rideshare's standard cancellation fee was paid.
Jordan Finfer, the Ray family's Chicago-based attorney, echoed the spokesperson's account. When he spoke with our Chicago ABC affiliate, he said the Uber driver's threats escalated into an altercation.
"(The Uber driver) proceeded to kick Owen in the groin, (the boys) sort of pushed him away and they ran away," Finfer said.
The driver reported to Uber that Ray and his friend were the aggressors and had assaulted him, according to ABC News.
Local police detained the two students the next day at the airport after deeming them "flight risks," claiming they were planning to run from the incident, Finfer said.
ABC News was able to speak to Ray, who said he and his friend didn't even understand why they were getting arrested.
"We were both just very shocked about the fact that we were being arrested over this incident," he said. "We had done nothing wrong. We were the, you know, victims of an attack."
A Copenhagen police spokesperson shared a statement with ABC News saying Ray and his friend were charged with common assault following their arrests and that they were sentenced to 10 pre-trial detention.
Their trial was postponed to April 24.
On Monday, WCPO reached out to Miami University for comment on Ray's detention.
A university spokesperson shared a statement saying, "Miami University learned of the situation involving undergraduate student Owen Ray through a media report. His professors have been made aware of his delayed return from his personal trip to Europe. As they do with all students, professors and Student Life staff will provide support to assist him in completing his coursework upon his return to the university."
The Ray family spokesperson tells WCPO the other student was also released but it is unclear whether their trial will still proceed on the scheduled date.
"We don't know yet what happens next," the spokesperson said.
There is more uncertainty. Though they no longer remain behind bars, the students are allegedly not yet free to return to the States.
"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," Ray's parents 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."
