By Rasheed Abou-Alsamh

Special to Saudi Gazette



RIO DE JANEIRO — An American tourist in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro was arrested at the airport here this week while trying to board a flight home after skipping out on an unpaid hotel bill of R$14,488 ($7,365).


Robert Scott Utley, 53, told police that he decided to skip town after his credit card had been cloned and subsequently blocked by his bank, making it impossible for him to settle his hotel bill, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported. After racking up his huge bill while staying 13 days at the Porto Bay Hotel, at which he reportedly spent R$6,000 ($3,050) in caipirinha drinks alone, Utley raised suspicion at the hotel when he asked for a taxi to the airport without having checked out or settling his bill. Hotel staff contacted police, who nabbed the escaping American at the airport.


The hotel said that Utley was in the constant company of different women while at the hotel, which theFolha says could have contributed to his huge drinks bill. Utley was taken in front of a judge who decided to not arrest him because he said there are no provisions in Brazilian law to withhold the passport of a tourist who does not pay his hotel bill.


The tourist spent the night at a police station and then released. The US consulate was not able to say whether Utley was still in Rio or if he had already flown back to the US. Under Brazilian law, a person who stays in a hotel knowing that they cannot pay the bill, can be sentenced to 15 days to two months in jail, or a fine. Utley told police that he decided to head back to the US because he could not pay the hotel bill, and also because he claimed to have heart problems.


The hotel refused to comment on the case.