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A cab driver who was accused of kidnapping a female passenger in Chicago and then sexually assaulting her pleaded guilty this week to one count of criminal sexual abuse causing bodily harm in exchange for a sentence of two years of probation, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped five Class X felony charges in their deal with Tarek Masri, including multiple counts of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Masri, now 59, was arrested at his Joliet home in 2018 after DNA material generated a hit in the sexual assault, which occurred three years earlier, police said. Early on...

On Saturday, a police officer in Filer, Idaho responded to a call about two dogs running around without leashes on a suburban street. Thirty-eight seconds after exiting his patrol car, Officer Tarek Hassani determined that one of the animals was too aggressive and fatally shot it in the front yard of its owner's house. A video ...shows the 7-year-old black labrador convulsing and whimpering before moving out of the dash cam's line of sight. The dog, named “Hooch,” belonged to Rick Clubb, who says he suffers from Parkinson's disease and that Hooch was his trained service animal. At the time...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.fbi.gov/boston/press-releases/2012/fbi-seeks-assistance-in-locating-wanted-fugitive-ahmad-abousamra FBI Seeks Assistance in Locating Wanted Fugitive Ahmad Abousamra $50,000 Reward is Being Offered for Information Leading to His Arrest FBI Boston October 03, 2012 BOSTON—FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers announced today that the FBI is seeking the public’s assistance to locate wanted terrorist Ahmad Abousamra, a U.S. citizen from Mansfield, Massachusetts who left the United States in 2006. He may be living in Aleppo, Syria, with his wife, at least one child (a daughter), and extended family. A reward of up to $50,000 is being offered for information...

The 65 page indictment unsealed Wednesday outlines a massive conspiracy to defraud employees, IHOP corporate, investors, the Internal Revenue Service and federal, state and local law enforcement. Background Prior to 2003, Tarek Elkafrawi owned and operated two IHOP franchises; one in Decatur, Illinois and the other in Evansville, Indiana. During his time in Decatur, the indictment alleges, Elkafrowi began a social friendship with Autumn Lee Tangas, an employee of IHOP Corporate in Decatur. Between 2003 and 2006 Elkafrawi purchased, either entirely or in partnership with other investors, 6 other IHOP franchises. Those stores are located in Toledo (2), Holland, Findlay,...

Mehanna's attorneys portrayed him as an aspiring scholar of Islam who traveled to Yemen to look for religious schools, not to get terrorist training. They said his translation and distribution of controversial publications was free speech protected by the First Amendment. Prosecutors focused on hundreds of online chats on Mehanna's computer in which they said he and his friends talked about their desire to participate in jihad, or holy war. Tarek Mehanna found guilty on terror-related charges; prosecutors say he conspired to receive training at a terrorist camp. Terror Suspect Found Guilty Of Conspiring Against US Prosecutors: Man Conspired To...

Infiltration of the federal government by members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood is worse than some have warned recently, says a former FBI special agent in Washington. The agent confirmed that at least three operatives of the Egypt-based Brotherhood – whose credo is "Jihad is our way and death in the cause of Allah is our dream" – have penetrated the Obama administration. The shocking charge was first leveled by Muslim reformer Tarek Fatah during a recent speech in Toronto. "Today in the White House, there are three members of the Muslim Brotherhood that influence Obama's policy," he told the...

Homegrown terrorist Jeffrey Leon Battle considered America the “land of the kaffirs,” or unbelievers, and the American people “pigs.” He once lamented to an acquaintance—who happened to be a government informant—that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks did not sufficiently damage the U.S. economy. “This is the land of the enemy,” he said of his own country in a May 8, 2002, conversation secretly recorded by the government. He explained to a friend how his “burning desire” to become an Islamic martyr had inspired his aborted quest to join forces with al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where he could kill American...