CAIR-MI announces settlement with the Detroit Police Department for the discriminatory arrest of three Muslim men
September 29th, 20230 DETROIT – The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), a local chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, recently announced a settlement has been reached with the city of Detroit for the discriminatory arrest of three Muslim men in 2020. In 2021, CAIR-MI filed a...
Man sentenced to 30-50 years for Dearborn Hampton Inn murder
September 10th, 20230 DEARBORN – A man received a 30 to 50 year prison sentence Wednesday for a fatal shooting at the Dearborn Hampton Inn last year. Reichard Lee Williams-Lewis shot and killed 55-year-old hotel employee Tyrone Chapple on Oct. 6, 2022. Williams-Lewis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month. Police said Chapple was getting...
Judge dismisses charges against former Dearborn Heights officer in assault on Arab American officer, Wayne County prosecutor to appeal decision
September 10th, 20231 DEARBORN HEIGHTS – A former Dearborn Heights police officer had two felony counts of assault with a dangerous weapon thrown out during a preliminary evidence hearing in the 20th District Court, Aug. 30. The charges against Paul Graf, 33, stemmed from a December 2021 incident in the locker room at the Dearborn Heights Police...
Man who assaulted teen, hurled racial slurs at him, pleads guilty
September 10th, 20230 LIVONIA – The man who attacked a 13-year-old boy and yelled racial slurs after bumping into him in a stairway in Livonia pleaded guilty. The incident occurred June 8 at the Kirksey Recreation Center in the 15100 block of Hubbard Road. Officials say Moeez Irfan, 29, of Livonia, bumped into the teen while they passed each other on...
Warren police bust large drug operation, seize 2,000 fentanyl pills
September 9th, 20230 WARREN – Thousands of potentially deadly pills are off the streets of Warren after a major bust by Warren police. "You could call him a murderer — that's what he is, he's killing people," said Commissioner Bill Dwyer. That’s how Dwyer characterizes a recent arrestee — a Sterling Heights man — making fentanyl pills...
Dearborn fire chief arrested for drunk driving, placed on administrative leave
September 2nd, 20230 DEARBORN — Fire Chief Joseph Murray has been placed on administrative leave following an arrest for allegedly operating a vehicle while under the influence. Murray was placed under arrest at around 3 a.m. on August 29 after being pulled over by Dearborn Heights police near Telegraph Road and Dartmouth Street. Police pulled him over...
Trump ally charged in Michigan over voting machine tampering
August 7th, 20230 LANSING — A Michigan attorney involved in multiple efforts around the country to overturn the 2020 election in support of former President Trump has been charged in connection with accessing and tampering with voting machines in Michigan, prosecutors announced Thursday. The charges against Stefanie Lambert come days after Matthew...
Trump pleads not guilty of plotting to overturn 2020 presidential election
August 4th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges he orchestrated a plot to try to overturn his 2020 election loss in what U.S. prosecutors call an unprecedented effort by the then-president to undermine the pillars of American democracy. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who has overseen the federal investigation,...
Former Dearborn Heights police officer faces assault charges after threatening fellow officer with a knife
July 29th, 20230 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A former Dearborn Heights police officer has been arraigned on two felony counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. The incident occurred in December 2021 and involved former officer Paul Graff, 33, and a fellow, 23-year-old DHPD officer and is believed to be racially-motivated as Graff is White and allegedly...
One suspect involved in vandalizing Warren Valley Golf Course in Dearborn Heights turns himself in to police
July 22nd, 20230 DEARBORN HEIGHTS – Informed sources told The Arab American News that one of the people involved in vandalizing the Warren Valley Golf Course in Dearborn Heights has turned himself in to the local authorities who are pursuing investigations in order to reach at least two other people who were involved in causing severe damage to the...
Arab American who set student on fire sentenced to two years’ probation
July 21st, 20231 A man who set a 17-year-old Riverview student on fire in June of 2022 has been sentenced after he pleaded guilty to being a disorderly person. Mazin Shaya, 56, was sentenced to two years of probation, the first 63 days of which will be served in the Wayne County Jail. He must partake in cognitive behavioral therapy and do 80 hours of...
A Jordanian immigrant was killed by two masked men who broke into his shop in New York
July 14th, 20230 STATEN ISLAND — The NYPD has released surveillance video of two suspects wanted in connection to a shooting that left a deli employee dead in Staten Island. The shooting happened Saturday just before 8 p.m. in the Castleton Corners section. Police responded to a 911 call of an attempted robbery at 444 Manor Road. Bassam...
The murder that shook the community: Why did Albodour shoot and kill Nasserdine in Dearborn?
July 14th, 20230 DEARBORN – In a murder that shook the Arab American community, an unlicensed local dentist shot and killed one of his patients in his home in the west side of Dearborn after midnight on July 6, according to preliminary investigations and a Dearborn Police report. Zayed Albodour, 52, was arraigned last Sunday in front of 19th...
Yemeni American heading to mosque killed by gunman on scooter rampage in NYC
July 14th, 20230 NEW YORK — Hamod Ali Saeidi, 87, walked several miles every day, checking in on family and friends. Last Saturday would have been no different — if not for the maniac who opened fire at a half dozen locations as he rode through Queens and Brooklyn, killing the Yemeni American grandfather and wounding three others. Saeidi was on...
Marshall woman sentenced for threats against Governor Whitmer
July 8th, 20230 LANSING – Tabitha Davis, 33, of Marshall, was sentenced last week to four months probation and a suspended sentence of 20 days in jail for threatening violence against Governor Whitmer, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced. The court additionally ordered her to complete recommended mental health treatment and complete a......
Police confiscate several firearms from home of Arab American man in Melvindale after a quarrel with his wife
July 8th, 20230 MELVINDALE — An Arab American man is facing federal charges that could land him in up to 15 years in prison when an arsenal of firearms was confiscated from his home in Melvindale after he intimidated his wife by shooting at her in a Detroit alley. The house of Sallah Algahmi, 37, was raided — on June 8 — based on a police...
Dearborn Police seek public assistance to identify suspect involved in trespassing, theft of city property
July 8th, 20230 DEARBORN – On Wednesday, June 28, an unknown man entered onto city of Dearborn property at 2661 Greenfield at approximately 8:30 p.m., stealing several power tools from the Department of Public Works Sewage Facility. The unidentified man was seen on the grounds of city properties by surveillance video. He cut the locks on the...
Text messages become a gold mine for scammers, FTC officials warn
July 8th, 20230 By Anthony Advincula A few days ago, Christian Amador received a text message on his smartphone. It wasn’t from someone he knew. He thought he just received a missent text message. “It was lovely meeting you. I enjoyed our dinner together, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you,” said the text, pointing him to a web...
Troy man charged in hit-and-run that injured 7-year-old girl on bike
June 25th, 20230 TROY — Troy police have arrested a suspect in connection to a hit-and-run that injured a 7-year-old girl while she was riding her bike in May. The crash happened at about 10:51 a.m. on Saturday, May 13, near Silverstone Drive and Dryden. The suspect driver struck the girl while she tried to cross the street on her bicycle. The......
Dearborn man sentenced to 14 years in prison for providing material support to ISIS
June 25th, 20230 DETROIT — On Thursday, June 15, a Dearborn resident was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after having been convicted at trial earlier this year on charges of providing and conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and attending an ISIS training camp. Prosecutors sought a...
AG Nessel charges three in signature collection fraud involving governor’s election
June 25th, 20230 LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed charges Thursday against three people accused of submitting thousands of forged nominating signatures that ended the candidacies of five Republican gubernatorial candidates last year. Willie Reed, 37; Shawn Wilmoth, 36 and Jamie Lynn Wilmoth-Goodin, 36, were each charged with......
Two Detroit men charged in separate gas stations attacks, including setting clerk on fire
June 25th, 20230 DETROIT – On Tuesday, police announced arrests in two unrelated incidents involving incendiary devices used in city gas stations — an argument that allegedly ended with a man setting a Sunoco gas station clerk on fire with a blowtorch, and a suspect who is accused of trying to ignite an SUV full of explosives at a downtown Speedway...
U.S. Customs and Border Protection seizes 217 Pounds of Cocaine at Blue Water Bridge
June 12th, 20230 PORT HURON - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the Area Port of Port Huron intercepted approximately 200 pounds of cocaine at the Blue Water Bridge port of entry, June 8. Officers were conducting inspections of outbound commercial cargo when the cocaine was discovered, comingled among a shipment of......
