DUBAI // A 30-year-old student tried to get out of a traffic fine by pretending to be a member of the royal family, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Monday.
Traffic police officers stopped a G-Class Mercedes-Benz with illegal reflective tinting on its window at midnight on July 22 and approached its driver, Emirati SA, to issue a ticket.
“The car was stopped in front of a supermarket in Jumeirah. I asked the driver for the car’s ownership card and he handed me one with the name of a royalty member on it,” said Emirati policeman SRA, 26.
He then asked the driver about his name and the driver said his name was on the card, the court was told. “I asked him for his driving licence and he told me he forgot it in his other car,” said the officer, who called colleagues for confirmation on the identity of the driver.
“When a patrol arrived, he denied he ever told me he was the sheikh whose name was on the card,” the policeman said in testimony.
“We asked him to tell the truth about his identity or we would refer him to the police station, so he insisted on saying he was the sheikh and that he has no problem with going to the station but, when another patrol arrived, he changed his story and stated his real name,” said policeman AAA, 24.
The student was charged with using a correct official document as his own and with impersonating a member of the royal family, which he denied in court.
“I handed them the ownership with the sheikh’s name on it but I did not say that I was him,” said the defendant in court.
The next hearing will be on February 11.
salamir@thenational.ae
