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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-09-08 Euless Articles Maintenance Worker’s Tip Led To Arrest Of Capital Murder Suspect Yaser Said August 28, 2020 at 1:48 pm FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – A tip from a maintenance worker led to the arrest of capital murder suspect Yaser Said, who was on the run since the slayings of his teenage daughters in 2008. Two relatives of Said were also arrested and charged with helping him evade capture for more than 12 years. Islam Yaser-Abdel Said, Yaser’s 32-year-old son, and Yassein Said, Yaser’s 59-year-old brother, were arrested Wednesday in Euless by the FBI’s Dallas Violent Crimes Task Force and charged via criminal complaint with concealing a person from arrest. Both made their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray in Fort Worth Friday afternoon. “For years, Islam and Yassein Said — Sarah and Amina’s own brother and uncle – allegedly harbored the girls’ killer,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. “In concealing Yaser Said from arrest, not only did these men waste countless law enforcement hours in the hunt for a brutal fugitive, they also delayed justice for Sarah and Amina. Thankfully, their day of reckoning has finally arrived. We are hopeful all three arrests will bring a measure of comfort to the girls’ mother, relatives, and friends.” Amina and Sarah Said (courtesy: Justice for Sarah and Amina Facebook page) Yaser Said, 63, was a fugitive from justice since New Year’s Day 2008, when he allegedly murdered his teenage daughters, Amina and Sarah. According to law enforcement, Yaser drove them to a location in Irving and shot them to death inside his taxicab, abandoning their bodies inside the vehicle. The following day, he was charged by the state with two counts of capital murder. In Dec. 2014, Yaser was placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list, where he remained until his capture this week. “The defendants provided aid and comfort to an individual who is accused of murdering his own daughters,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Division Matthew DeSarno. “Harboring a dangerous fugitive is unacceptable. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will pursue anyone who helps a criminal evade capture.” According to the criminal complaint against Islam and Yassein, nine years after the murder, on Aug. 14, 2017, investigators caught a break: A maintenance worker at the Copper Canyon Apartment complex in Bedford spotted Yaser inside a unit leased to his son, Islam. Yaser Said new mugshot (Source: Dallas County Jail) Dispatched to repair a water leak, the maintenance worker knocked on the apartment door, but when no one answered, he used a key to unlock it. To his surprise, he found the interior deadbolt locked, indicating someone was inside the apartment. He knocked again, announcing himself as a maintenance worker. A tall, middle-aged Middle Eastern man opened the door and permitted him to make the repairs. The maintenance worker later reported the incident to his apartment manager, who was aware of Islam’s relationship to a fugitive. The maintenance worker confirmed to his boss that the photo on Yaser Said’s wanted poster matched the man he’d seen in the apartment, and the pair immediately contacted the FBI. That same day, FBI Dallas dispatched a Violent Crimes Task Force agent to interview the maintenance worker. The agent showed him photos of Yaser’s brothers, along with Yaser himself. The maintenance worker pinpointed Yaser as the man he’d seen in the apartment. Later that evening, the same agent attempted to interview Islam, asking him for permission to search the apartment. Islam, upset, allegedly refused to cooperate. He then called placed a call, saying, “we have a problem.” AT&T records indicate Islam was in contact with his uncles. At 1 a.m. the following morning, the FBI Dallas SWAT team executed a search warrant on Islam’s apartment. Finding the front door locked, they were forced to breach the door. They did not discover anyone inside, but observed the sliding glass patio door open. Underneath the patio, they noticed a bush with broken branches, suggesting someone had jumped off the patio and landed on the bush. Next to the flattened bush, they found a pair of eyeglasses, which they collected as evidence. Agents also collected several pieces of evidence from inside the apartment, including several cigarette butts and a toothbrush inside a luggage bag in a closet. The FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia cross-referenced DNA found on these items with DNA collected from Amina and Sarah. Analyists determined a 1 in 5.3 quintillion probably that the DNA found on the cigarette butts, eyeglasses, and toothbrush came from Amina and Sarah’s biological father: Yaser Said. Twelve days after the raid on the apartment, on August 26, 2017, Customs and Border Patrol located Islam more than 1,000 miles away, inside a car selected for secondary screening at the U.S. Canada border. The driver of the car, Hany Medhat, told CBP agents that he and Islam had decided to take a “crazy road trip;” however, a search of his phone revealed he’d told his employer he had a “family emergency.” Three years later, on Aug. 17, 2020, FBI agents began 24-hour surveillance of a home in Justin purchased in the name of Dalal Said, Yassein’s daughter. They watched Islam and Yassein allegedly drive up to the home, deliver grocery bags inside, and carry trash bags back to their car. Two days later, at 11:51 p.m. on Aug. 19, after Yassein and Islam had departed the residence, agents observed what appeared to be a shadow of a person walk across the interior of the residence in front of window twice. On Aug. 25, agents once again observed Islam and Yassein exit the home with two bags of trash: Pictured: Islam Said exits the Justin residence, bag in hand. (credit: FBI) The agents followed the pair to a shopping center in Southlake 19 miles from the house. They watched as Islam exited the vehicle, and Yassein pulled around to the side of the shopping center. Once the vehicle had pulled out of the parking lot, agents began to dig through the garbage cans on the side of the shopping center. Inside the garbage cans, they located two bags matching the bags they’d seen the men carrying out to the car. They seized the bags and transported them back to the FBI Field Office, where they found numerous cigarette butts and other garbage. The following day, agents executed a search warrant on the home, where they arrested Yaser Said. They arrested Yassein and Islam at a separate location in Euless. If convicted, Yassein and Islam face up to five years in federal prison. Yaser, indicted by the state on capital murder charges, faces the death penalty. FBI explains how it caught Texas father whose family hid him after he killed daughters BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. AUGUST 28, 2020 03:20 PM , UPDATED AUGUST 28, 2020 04:36 PM FORT WORTH The brother and son of capital murder suspect Yaser Said were charged on Friday in federal court with helping him evade capture for more than 12 years. Yaser Said, who had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted List after he was accused of killing his two teenage daughters in 2008, was captured Wednesday without incident. On the same day, his 63-year-old brother, Yassein Said, and Yaser Said’s son, 32-year-old Islam Said, were arrested in Euless. The two are charged with concealing a person from arrest. For years, the two family members provided aid and comfort to Yaser Said, authorities said. Throughout the investigation, federal agents and Irving police believed other members of Yaser Said’s family had assisted and communicated with him. Patricia Owens, who is Yaser Said’s former wife and the mother of the girls, told federal authorities that members of his family had indicated to her “little remorse for the victims,” and indicated support for their killer, according to a federal criminal complaint. On the night of Jan. 1, 2008, Irving police found Amina Said, 18, hunched over in the passenger seat of her father’s taxi. Her sister, Sarah Said, 17, was found in the back seat. Both had been shot multiple times. Hours before the bodies of the teens were found, Yaser Said had picked up his daughters and never returned home, according to the capital murder warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Some family members said that the girls were victims of an “honor killing” because their father thought they had brought shame to the family. Authorities have declined to comment on a motive. The criminal complaints against Yassein Said and Islam Said do not indicate where Yaser Said was from January 2008 until August 2017. Nine years after the killings, investigators got a break when a maintenance worker at the Copper Canyon Apartments in Bedford spotted Yaser Said in an apartment rented by Islam Said, federal agents said. FBI agents had told apartment officials before that encounter that Islam Said was renting an apartment there and that he was the son of a wanted fugitive. After the sighting, on Aug. 14, 2017, an FBI agent tried to interview Islam Said, wanting to ask him who was inside the Bedford apartment and get consent to search it. Islam Said refused to cooperate and called his attorney. Later, authorities discovered that Islam Said called someone and told them, “we have a big problem,” according to the complaint. Authorities obtained a search warrant for the apartment and executed it on Aug. 15, 2017, but they didn’t find anyone. Investigators collected a Pall Mall cigarette butt from a trash can, a pair of eyeglasses, and a toothbrush found in a luggage bag inside a closet. A few days after the Bedford apartment was searched, Yassein Said and another man showed up at the leasing office, demanding to know who saw someone in Islam Said’s apartment, according to the complaint. Months later, test results on DNA collected from the apartment indicated that Yaser Said had been there. Years passed before federal authorities got another break. On Aug. 10 of this year, authorities discovered that two homes were in the name of Dalal Said, one of Yassein Said’s daughters. One home was in Justin and the other in Euless. Authorities already knew that the Euless residence was the primary home of Islam Said. Federal authorities began physical surveillance at both homes. Last week, FBI agents saw Islam Said and Yassein Said carry about five grocery bags into the Justin home. From Aug. 17 to Aug. 19, FBI agents were conducting 24-hour surveillance at the home. On Tuesday, Yassein Said and Islam Said arrived and carried in more grocery bags. At about 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, Islam Said was seen exiting the Justin home with two small grocery bags possibly containing trash. He placed the bags in a vehicle. Yassein also walked out of the residence and the two got into the vehicle. Earlier this month, trash bags had been left on the curb near the Justin home. The two Said men drove to a Southlake shopping center and dropped the two bags in a garbage can. The trash bags, which included numerous cigarette butts, were seized by FBI agents. At 5:34 p.m. on Wednesday, authorities armed with a search warrant found Yaser Said in the Justin home. He was arrested without incident. Authorities discovered a hidden room with a cot in it in the back of the Justin residence. Yaser Said faces the death penalty if he’s convicted of capital murder. If they are convicted, Yassein Said and Islam Said face a maximum of five years in a federal prison. Wanted Man Dies After Crashing While Trying To Get Away From Euless Police September 2, 2020 at 4:50 pm EULESS, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – A wanted man died in a crash Wednesday morning after police said he tried to get away from officers in Euless. Police said the incident began at around 8:30 a.m. when they were asked by the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office to check a parking lot for a suspect wanted for multiple warrants, including parole violation. When officers arrived at the scene in the 1800 block of Fuller Wiser, police said the man drove off from the parking lot at a high rate of speed. Police said officers followed the man’s vehicle but did not pursue it in a chase. Officers then found the vehicle had crashed into a tree in the 600 block of Fuller Wiser. (Credit: CBS 11 News) The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not yet been released. Police are continuing to investigate the crash. Tarrant County grand jury declines to indict teacher, coach on child sex abuse charges BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. SEPTEMBER 03, 2020 11:52 AM00% FORT WORTH A Tarrant County grand jury has declined to indict an elementary teacher and a former high school volleyball coach on molestation charges in separate cases which allegedly occurred in Grapevine. The jurors returned their no-bill decisions this summer in the cases of 55-year-old Jeffrey Brooks of Euless and 46-year-old Anthony Clark of Hurst. The no-bill decision was not to determine guilt or innocence in a case. The ruling means the jury found there was insufficient evidence to prosecute someone. The proceedings of a grand jury are secret. Both cases were investigated by Grapevine police, and the incidents allegedly occurred years ago. Brooks was charged in January with indecency/fondling after a 23-year-old woman made an outcry after going through therapy and learning Brooks was teaching in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district. An arrest warrant accused Brooks of fondling the woman when she was in the second grade in 2005 at Grapevine Faith Christian School as she was having a private piano lesson. At the time of his arrest in January, Brooks was a teacher at South Euless Elementary School in Euless. H-E-B school officials noted there had been no allegations against Brooks in the 14 years he had been employed in the district. Brooks was placed on leave after his arrest. Information on his status in the district as of Thursday was not available. Clark, a former North Texas high school volleyball coach, was booked into jail in March and accused of sexually assaulting a then 15-year-old girl between September 1999 and February 2000 in Grapevine. That teen, who is now an adult, made an outcry in January, and kept journals of their alleged sexual encounters, according to an arrest warrant for Clark. Clark had been a coach in the Southlake Carroll, Lewisville, Keller and White Settlement school districts. He was not employed as a coach when he was arrested in March. Tarrant County reports most COVID deaths in a week, most cases in nearly 2 weeks By Stefan Stevenson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram September 6, 2020 Tarrant County reported 11 coronavirus deaths and 287 new cases on Saturday. It’s the most pandemic-related deaths in the county since 13 were reported on Aug. 29. The 287 cases are the most since 411 on Aug. 25. Three of the patients had no underlying health conditions. Tarrant County officials are not reporting which had no underlying conditions. Saturday’s 11 deaths include: Arlington man in his 30s Mansfield woman in her 50s Euless man in his 60s Fort Worth man in his 60s Fort Worth woman in her 60s North Richland Hills woman in her 80s Richland Hills woman in her 80s Southlake woman in her 80s White Settlement woman in her 80s Fort Worth man in his 90s Haslet woman in her 90s Tarrant County has reported 42,798 COVID-19 cases, including 576 deaths and an estimated 37,402 recoveries. Here are the total pandemic-related deaths in Tarrant County by city through Sept. 5: Fort Worth, 276 Arlington, 103 White Settlement, 26 Mansfield, 23 Keller, 20 Grapevine, 17 Grand Prairie, 13 Benbrook, 12 Bedford, 11 Rural Tarrant County, 8 Azle, 7 Haltom City, 7 Hurst, 7 Lake Worth, 6 North Richland Hills, 6 Forest Hill, 5 Euless, 4 Richland Hills, 4 Southlake, 4 Watauga, 3 Kennedale, 2 Saginaw, 2 Sansom Park, 2 Unknown, 2 Blue Mound, 1 Crowley, 1 Edgecliff Village, 1 Haslet, 1 Lakeside, 1 Pantego, 1 River Oaks, 1