Outbound tourist pulled off flight over road incident

A British male was denied boarding and got arrested at Larnaca airport on Friday following a road incident in Ayia Napa, where a local biker was injured after the two got into an argument over a rental car idling on the wrong side of the road.

Police said a 40-year-old British national, who went to Larnaca International Airport on Friday evening to catch a flight to the United Kingdom, was detained on an arrest warrant in connection with a road incident early in the morning.

According to preliminary details in the investigation, the tourist was in a rental car idling on a road in Ayia Napa Friday early morning, around 3:45am, when he got into an argument with a 54-year-old local biker who says he made a right turn and noticed a vehicle that pulled over to the wrong side of the road.

The biker, whose wife was riding on the back of the motorcycle, says he made a right turn onto a side road when he noticed a rental vehicle idling on the wrong side of the road.

Pre-dawn hand gestures

After the rental car driver gestured to the biker, the local man stopped next to the vehicle and called on the tourist to explain himself.

A police incident report said “the car driver exited his vehicle and used hand gestures, raising his fists, challenging the 54-year-old who got off the motorcycle.”

“Then the driver got back inside the car and drove backwards in an apparent attempt to strike the 54-year-old but he did not succeed,” police said, adding that the British man then “drove forward and struck the feet of the biker who fell to the ground.”

The tourist then drove away while the biker went to the Emergency Room at Famagusta General Hospital, where he underwent medical tests.

Police said the biker, who was determined to have several cuts and bruises in various parts of his body, received medical treatment and was then released from the hospital.

When the tourist showed up for a flight at the airport in the evening, around 8pm, he was detained on an arrest warrant issued for multiple offenses, including reckless driving, aggravated assault, acts of negligence, and fleeing the scene of an accident.

A judge on Saturday ordered the British man remanded in police custody for four days.