Henry Lee's Rap Sheet for Dec. 17, 2015
(KTVU) - Here's the Rap Sheet for Dec. 17, 2015:
FREMONT MAN HELD IN TERROR CASE: Documents unsealed in the case of a Fremont man accused by the feds of trying to travel to a terrorist camp make for some unsettling reading.
Adam Shafi, 22, was indicted on charges of attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
According to FBI agents, the case began when Shafi disappeared in August 2014 during a family trip to Cairo without telling his family where he went.
Shafi's father and another relative reported that Shafi later sent a text message that said he had gone to "protect Muslims."
Shafi's father feared that his son "had been recruited" and "suspected that he may have gone to Syria, Iraq, Gaza or elsewhere in the region to defend Muslims," FBI Agent Christopher Monika, a member of the South Bay Joint Terrorism Task Force, wrote in an affidavit.
Shafi reunited with his family two days later, authorities said. Shortly thereafter, customs agents stopped an interviewed a man, identified in court papers only as A.N., who aroused suspicion because he had apparently visited Istanbul for only two days, even though his stated reason was to visit mosques, Monika wrote.
A.N. told agents that he had met his friend, Adam, and was in possession of Adam's travel itinerary and e-mail address, the affidavit says.
Agents interviewed Shafi, who confirmed that he had met with A.N. in Istanbul. "Adam stated that the purpose of their travel was to see the condition of refugees from Syria firsthand and to provide assistance to them," according to the affidavit.
Authorities said they uncovered e-mail communications and phone conversations during which expressed his love of “Jaulani,” the amir of terrorist organization ANF, his willingness to “die with them."
In December 2014, an FBI surveillance team spotted Shafi leading his two younger brothers in exercises described as "paramilitary style" training, including calisthenics, running through the neighborhood and crawling through the mud at a park near their Fremont home, investigators said.
On June 30 of this year, agents intercepted Shafi at San Francisco International Airport just as he was about to board a nonstop Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, not long after passengers reported feeling nervous around him in the terminal because his leg was shaking and he was "alternately mumbling and speaking loudly to himself as he read," Monika wrote.
The affidavit noted that Turkey is a common point of entry into Syria for foreign fighters hoping to join terrorist organizations such as ANF and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Shafi was detained, and told investigators that he "was discouraged with the politics and and direction of the United States, citing the recent Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage, and wanted to be in a country of people of similar mindset and religion as himself," the affidavit says.
"Adam is Muslim and currently fasting for Ramadan," investigators wrote.
Shafi is being held without bail at a downtown Oakland jail.
MAN HELD IN SEXUAL ASSAULT OF COLLEGE STUDENT: A man has been arrested on suspicion of raping a Santa Clara University student at a house party, police said today.
Pedro Madrid, 27, of Sunnyvale was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of rape, kidnapping and penetration by a foreign object.
The incident began when alleged victim, an 18-year-old woman, met Madrid at a party near campus, said Capt. Jeff Hunter of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.
Madrid is not a Santa Clara University student, and he was not known to those who hosted or attended the party, Hunter said.
"While at the party, the victim became extremely intoxicated and ultimately unable to care for herself," Hunter said.
Police say Madrid drove the woman to his home in Sunnyvale and sexually assaulted her.
DISASTER AVERTED: The California Highway Patrol says it arrested the driver of a gasoline tanker as he was under the influence of drugs, possibly avoiding a tragedy.
It all began about 4:55 p.m. Monday when CHP dispatchers received a 911 call about a man driving gasoline tanker recklessly and nearly running off the road on northbound Highway 101.
CHP Officer Mike Phennicie found the truck on the freeway and pulled the driver over on the Citrus Fair Drive off-ramp in Cloverdale, said CHP Officer Jonathan Sloat.
The driver, Charles Foster, 46, of Santa Rosa told the officer that it was his "first day of driving" for a Ukiah company and he that he was heading into Cloverdale "to get a Dr. Pepper," Sloat said.
Phennicie believed Foster was impaired and determined that that he was under the combined influence of methamphetamine, prescription pain killers and a muscle relaxer, the CHP said.
Foster was arrested, and the fuel company dispatched a driver to pick up the truck and dual trailers containing a combined 8,500 gallons of gasoline, Sloat said.
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