Jumeirah Beach Road Spinneys 1973

Spinney's car park was small. Getting in was difficult. Getting out was worse. Caution was essential. I reversed cautiously and stopped when I saw car approaching. The car briefly stopped behind my car then drove off. Fleetingly I wondered why the car had stopped behind me, then drove the short distance along Jumeirah Beach Road to my home.

Sheikh Rashid Villas, Jumeirah Beach Road. Demolished to build luxury townhouses next to Beach Centre Mall

I glimpsed car headlights following behind as I turned into my driveway. I collected my shopping, got out of the car then saw the car parked across my driveway entrance. Two young Arab men, almost boys, were standing in my driveway. "You hit my car" one shouted. "Don't think so" was my reflex reply. "You damaged the side of my car" the other one yelled pointing to the side of his car. I looked at my old RangeRover. I couldn't see any marks, damage or signs of any contact with another car. I went over to inspect their damage. Right side doors were dented and scraped along the top. My old Rangerover bumper bar would have hit the door bottoms if there had been contact. "Don't think my car did that damage" I told them.

Both boys became angry and aggressive shouting even louder "You damaged my car". They became threatening. I tried to calm things down. " Look I work at Port Rashid. We have a vehicle workshop and body shop. They'll be able to fix your car easily. Bring your car to Port Rashid tomorrow morning. I will deal with it".

I thought my offer was generous albeit delivered with a degree of panic! It should resolve matters. It didn't! It became worse. Threats and abusive began to flow. I started to worry. Abruptly both boys went to their car and drove off still shouting abuse as they went.

Relieved but mildly shocked, I went indoors and tried to make sense of this odd episode. Eventually I concluded this was not about a damaged car. It was about using a damaged car to get me to handover money. They knew I had not caused the damage. It had been a crude attempt to extort money - a Scam. I had no doubt their car had been damaged long before they drove into Spinney's car park. Stopping behind my car was part of their scam. My offer to get their car repaired took them by surprise. It was not the response they expected. This wasn't how the Scam should flow. They were not going to get money from me! Hence their sudden departure. Thankfully I didn't hear of any similar incidents in Jumeirah. But that's not to say they didn't happen.

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