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Wrong Man Arrested: Head of Arab-American Center in Dearborn Released
Authorities arrested an Arab-American leader but released him today after realizing he was not the man they were looking for, his attorney and the FBI said.
Ali Hammoud, president of the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn, was arrested at his Dearborn home Friday night, said attorney Majed Moughni. Police told Hammoud they were acting on a warrant requested by the FBI involving alleged cigarette smuggling and Hizballah support with a man who has a similar name.
But Hammoud was released this morning after he was questioned by FBI agents, Moughni said.
“They told him they got the wrong man,” Moughni said. The man they were seeking was involved in a 2006 case and may be in Lebanon, Moughni said.
The spokeswoman for the Detroit FBI, Sandra Berchtold, said:
“The individual fit the description/identifiers of an active warrant. It was later determined it was not the correct individual, and he was released.”
Berchtold said that “the individual was stopped by Dearborn on a traffic violation.”
But Moughni said there was no traffic violation and that police came to Hammoud’s home last night to arrest him.
Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said there was a “warrant out there for someone with that name” of Ali Hammoud. He said he couldn’t comment further because it was a federal case.
After Hammoud was arrested last night, community leaders and others contacted Dearborn Police and the FBI to find out what happened.
“When the FBI went to Dearborn Police and found out he was the wrong person, they released him,” said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Hammoud is “not the person” they were seeking,” Hamad said, calling it a “mistaken identity situation.”
Hamad said the community wants “to find out what happened in this case … why this led to case of mistaken identity.”
Hammoud is well known in Dearborn and so his arrest came as a surprise, said Hamad and Moughni. “This is a very unfortunate situation,” Hamad said.
Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab-American News, spoke with Dearborn Police and the FBI today about the case.
“We will not rest until we find out what happened, and we want to make sure it will never happen again,” Siblani said. “This is a respected community leader. I never doubted his innocence.”
Siblani said he spoke with Hammoud. “He’s very distressed,” Siblani said.
Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press