A Moroccan man has been charged with stealing a taxi, crashing it into a villa and then assaulting two police officers.
The incident happened after the accused, 24, spent the evening drinking before calling a cab to take him to the Mirdif area of Dubai.
Once there, the court heard how the defendant jumped out of the taxi to get money to pay for his fare.
But when he failed to return, his Pakistani driver went looking for him, leaving his car keys in the ignition.
Moments later the accused sped off in the vehicle before smashing into the entrance of a nearby villa.
“I dropped him off and he asked me to wait for him so he could get money to pay me,” the taxi driver told the hearing.
“But he didn’t return after entering the house. Then I saw him near the villa using a bicycle to smash a parked Toyota car.”
Dubai Criminal Court heard how the defendant had hailed a taxi in the early hours of September 13 last year.
After being dropped off and then confronted by his driver, he jumped into the cab and sped off. After crashing the vehicle he then assaulted two police officers called to arrest him.
“He repeatedly kicked the back door of our police patrol vehicle as we were trying to get him inside it,” said a policeman."
The defendant was charged with assault, drink driving and damaging property. “I can’t recall what happened that day,” he told the court.
A verdict is expected on February 19.
COMPANY PROFILE
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
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THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
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- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
Nepotism is the name of the game
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