“Immense” scale of Gaza killings amount to crimes against humanity, U.N. inquiry says
June 14th, 20240 GENEVA — Both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, a U.N. inquiry found on Wednesday, saying that Israel's actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses. The findings were from two parallel reports, one focusing on the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and another...
Trump is a convicted felon. Now what?
May 31st, 20240 Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime on Thursday when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star ahead of the 2016 election. After two days of deliberation, the 12-member jury pronounced Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts he...
Hassan Alwaily, 37, sentenced to 10-40 years in the death of Balkees Sadek
May 26th, 20240 DETROIT — Wayne County Judge Paul Cusick sentenced Hassan Alwaily to 10 to 40 years May 24 for second-degree murder in the April 6, 2020 death of 29-year-old Balkees Sadek in Dearborn. If it were up to Cusick, Alwaily would spend the maximum 40 years of his sentence in prison for fatally strangling Sadek, who was his girlfriend, and...
Former state employee sentenced for using state vehicles for personal use
May 24th, 20240 LANSING – Last Friday, Rufus Chappell, 64, of Farmington Hills, was sentenced before Judge Mariam Bazzi in Wayne County's Third Circuit Court to three years’ probation and restitution in the amount of $47,214.85 to the Unemployment Insurance Agency after a jury found the former state employee guilty of embezzlement in April,...
Detroit man charged in fatal road rage attack that claimed the life of Reda Saleh
May 17th, 20240 DETROIT – Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged Desmond Burks, 33, of Detroit, with second degree murder in connection with a road rage incident that killed Reda Saleh, 67, of Dearborn. On April 17, at approximately 6:45 p.m., Detroit police officers were dispatched to intersection of West Chicago Street and Greenfield Road...
Dearborn man gets 10-30 years in fatal 2023 shooting of 28-year-old Dearborn Heights resident
May 17th, 20241 DEARBORN – A Dearborn resident has been sentenced to 10 to 30 years for the fatal shooting of Ahmed Nasserdine, 28, a resident of Dearborn Heights on July 6, 2023, court records said. Zayed Albodour, 53, received the sentence Friday in Detroit from Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bridget Hathaway on a count of second-degree murder...
Two Arab American doctors charged with child abuse, causing mental harm
May 17th, 20240 BROOKFIELD, Wis. - Two Arab American doctors from Brookfield are charged with child abuse and causing mental harm to a child. A physician’s oath is "first, do no harm", but Brookfield police say two doctors didn't practice that this week. Prosecutors charged both Iyad Azzam and Wiaam Taha with two counts of felony child abuse and...
Sexual assault complaint filed against Warren chiropractor, video evidence presented
April 26th, 20240 Dearborn attorney Azzam Elder filed a complaint in Macomb County Circuit Court April 19 alleging that his client, referred to as Jane Doe in the court document, was sexually assaulted by Warren chiropractor John Pispidikis. Pispidikis owns the Spinal Recovery Center on 12 Mile Road. Elder held a press conference on the sidewalk...
Mass graves discovery in Gaza: What do we know and what are the consequences under international law?
April 26th, 20240 THE HAGUE – The discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals, said by Palestinian authorities to contain hundreds of bodies, have triggered calls by the U.N. rights chief and others for an international investigation. While not defined under international law, a mass grave is a burial site containing multiple bodies, the existence...
Dearborn Heights landlord agrees to pay $185K to eight women he sexually harassed
April 12th, 20240 DETROIT – On Monday, April 8, the Justice Department announced that a Dearborn Heights landlord, Mohamad Hussein, has agreed to pay $185,000 in damages and a civil penalty to the government to resolve the Fair Housing Act (FHA) lawsuit concerning his sexual harassment of actual and prospective female tenants. Hussein has owned and...
Former Grosse Pointe Park pharmacist sentenced to prison for filling fake prescriptions
March 22nd, 20240 DETROIT – On Wednesday, March 15, a New Baltimore resident and former Grosse Pointe Park pharmacist was sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in federal prison for filling fake prescriptions, following her convictions for 26 drug-related crimes, including unlawful distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to unlawfully...
Dearborn Police make arrest in violent home invasion
March 18th, 20240 DEARBORN – On March 17, at approximately 2 p.m., Dearborn Police officers responded to a residence near Southfield Rd and Outer Dr following a reported home invasion and assault. Upon arrival, officers discovered two elderly female residents who had been severely abused and sexually assaulted by an unknown adult male who illegally...
Sure ways to spot a scammer
March 15th, 20240 By Jennifer Leach Scammers say and do things that can tell us they’re lying — and they’re not who they pretend to be. Of course, to hear or see those clues, we have to get past the panic scammers make us feel, thanks to the so-called emergencies they...
A Canadian man arrested for a homicide in Vancouver and making threats against Hamtramck mayor, City Council members
March 8th, 20240 Last week, FBI Detroit Special Agent Mara Schneider told the Detroit Free Press that the FBI helped Hamtramck police in identifying and locating the person accused of making threats against Mayor Amer Ghalib and other City Council members. Ghalib said that he and some City Council members received death threats from a man in Canada...
Dearborn Police seek to identify individual involved in home invasion; ask residents to exercise caution
March 6th, 20240 DEARBORN – The Dearborn Police Department is seeking the community’s assistance identifying an individual involved in a home invasion. On March 4, at approximately 8 p.m., the unidentified man approached the front door of a residence in the 7600 block of Barrie. He activated the video doorbell and attempted to open the locked......
Dearborn Police make arrest for aggravated indecent exposure; seeking to identify victims
February 21st, 20240 DEARBORN – On Friday, February 16, 31-year-old Detroit resident Steven Simmons was arraigned before Judge Mark Somers of the 19th District Court on charges of child sexually abusive material, using a computer to commit a crime, aggravated indecent exposure and indecent exposure. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office charged Simmons...
Police: Stabbing of Palestinian American in Texas is a hate crime
February 13th, 20240 The recent stabbing of a 23-year-old Palestinian American in Texas meets the standard for a hate crime, police announced on Wednesday. Bert James Baker, 36, was arrested on Sunday for allegedly attacking 23-year-old Zacharia Doar after Doar and friends were returning from a pro-Palestinian protest on Sunday near the University of......
Former Wayne County Circuit Court assistant arraigned on charges alleging embezzlement from judge
January 27th, 20240 LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that Steven Allen, 42, of Detroit, was arraigned Tuesday, Jan. 23, in the 36th District Court in Wayne County on four felonies for forgery, using a computer to commit a crime and allegedly embezzling more than $60,000 from his employer, a sitting Circuit Court...
Jury trial set for a White man who allegedly assaulted Black shoppers at Dearborn market
January 27th, 20240 A man facing charges in an alleged racially motivated attack at a grocery store in Dearborn will face a jury trial. Jason Edward Lucas, who is White, is set to go on trial on March 20. He has been charged with four counts of felonious assault and two counts of ethnic intimidation. The charges are in connection with an alleged...
Thieves smash through Detroit dispensaries, steal “barrels of weed”
January 27th, 20240 DETROIT — Detroit Police are searching for the people responsible for a series of smash-and-grabs at dispensaries in the city that have left many businesses with massive holes and marijuana plants visible. The first marijuana smash-and-grab happened on Monday at Wyoming and Puritan where a black pickup truck backed into a building....
Protesters says they were sprayed with hazardous chemical at pro-Palestinian rally in New York
January 27th, 20240 Protesters at Columbia University were allegedly sprayed with a hazardous chemical while attending a pro-Palestinian “divestment now” rally on Low Steps on Friday, Jan. 19, according to nearly two dozen students who reported a foul smell, physical symptoms or property damage after the protest. The Columbia Spectator......
Federal judge dismisses lawsuit against Dearborn for fatal shooting of Ali Naji in Dearborn Police lobby
January 5th, 20240 DEARBORN – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn and a city of Dearborn police officer in the shooting death of a man in the police station lobby on Dec. 18, 2022. On that date, 33-year-old Ali Naji entered the Dearborn police station holding a firearm and attempted to shoot at an officer in the lobby....
Imam Hassan Sharif fatally shot outside his Newark, N.J. mosque, motives unknown
January 4th, 20240 NEWARK, N.J. — Members of a New Jersey mosque are devastated after their imam was shot and killed Wednesday morning. The search is on for the killer. Imam Hassan Sharif was fatally shot outside his mosque on South Orange Avenue and Camden Street in Newark at around 6:15 a.m. Officials said they do not believe it was motivated by......
CAIR files complaint against Ann Arbor school counselor for calling Muslim student a “terrorist”
December 22nd, 20230 ANN ARBOR — The family of a middle school student has filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education against the Ann Arbor Public Schools through a local Muslim civil rights organization, claiming a school counselor allegedly referred to a 12-year-old Palestinian Muslim student as a...
CBP confiscates 110 pounds of ketamine in man’s luggage at Detroit Metro Airport
December 22nd, 20230 ROMULUS – U.S. Customs and Border Protection detected and seized roughly $4 million worth of ketamine at Detroit Metro Airport. According to a CBP press release, a United Kingdom citizen flew in from France on Dec. 13 and was selected for secondary inspection. A search of two large suitcases reportedly revealed plastic bags filled......
