Alleged Forgeries In Hurst Lead To Arrest Of Former U.S. Soldier
HURST (CBSDFW.COM) - A former U.S. soldier is officially under arrest after North Texas police discovered forged documents and weapons in his truck.
For now, Azeez Ahmed is facing state charges of tampering with a governmental record.
Hurst Assistant Police Chief Richard Winstanley says Ahmed from all the information they have gathered it's clear the 29-year-old is an American.
"He has a United States passport issued to him. He was a member of the United States military. For all intents and purposes, that we know of now, he is a citizen of the United States."
Tuesday afternoon Ahmed was in custody and police were tracing the automatic handgun and 12-gauge shotgun found in his truck to see if they were obtained legally.
Police initially went to the strip mall along Highway 26 around 5:00 a.m., after receiving an emergency call about a suspicious vehicle. Upon arriving, police found an SUV that was damaged as if it had been involved in a wreck. Further investigation of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of the weapons and what appeared to be some type of "military documents".
"What we found was what appears to be some type of federal identification cards so that's why the federal government is interested in that," Winstanley said.
After several hours police learned the vehicle belonged to Ahmed who is also the owner of a dry cleaning business in the strip mall. Ahmed has been inside the business the entire time, but told authorities he was sleeping and was unaware they were outside.
Ahmed was reportedly sleeping at the business because he was having marriage problems. Ahmed is of Saudi descent and the strip center's landlord said he'd been struggling to pay rent.
City and federal officials have more questions for Ahmed.
"We have taken him to the Hurst Police Department for further investigation," Asst. Chief Winstanley explained. "We are also in the process of executing, or trying to obtain a search warrant for the business to look for some evidentiary material and information."
In addition to Hurst police, investigators with the FBI, ATF and NCIS have questions for Ahmed. Hurst police say the federal officials are actually familiar with him.
"He was a former member of the United States military, so the government does have some information on him. He has been a 'person of interest' in the past. The FBI has interviewed him before."
Investigators say the handgun and shotgun are nothing out of ordinary and the government documents, identification cards, point to forgery not terrorism.
"There is nothing to indicate any possible terrorist type activity or anything like that," Winstanley said.
There has been no bond amount set for Ahmed.
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