FBI Seizes Computers, Store Video In Goose Creek Bomb Case
August 8, 2007 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Video News Clip Tampa Bay News 10
Updated:
A third roomate, Ghassan Salhab, 27, from Mauritania moved here from Canada recently and returned there Monday. (as in left the country)
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Investigators have removed computers from the family home of a University of South Florida student accused of having pipe bombs in his car.
It’s reported that the FBI contacted the parents of Yousseff Samir Megahed of Tampa, who were on vacation, and got permission to search their home. When they returned, their computers were gone.
Megahed is one of two USF students arrested near a naval base in South Carolina over the weekend.
Ahmed Abda Mohamed’s family questioned why the men are being held on such a high bail amount.
“They know their son is innocent,” said M. Nachabe, faculty adviser for student Mohamed, after speaking by telephone with the man’s parents in Egypt.
Mohamed’s age is listed variously as 24 and 26 in law enforcement records.
The men were arrested Saturday afternoon in Goose Creek, S.C., on charges of possession of an explosive device. After a prosecutor argued the men were flight risks, a judge set bail at $500,000 for Mohamed and $300,000 for Megahed. (See related stories below)
The FBI declined to discuss the case. An arrest affidavit from the Berkeley County, S.C., Sheriff’s Office says that Mohamed told deputies he made the devices from components he bought at Wal-Mart.
The men told deputies that the explosives were fireworks, according to Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber said the FBI had gone to a store for surveillance footage but declined to say which store or what is on the tape.
“The FBI has been to a store and picked up videotape,” she said. “It’s an open investigation. I don’t think it would be appropriate to respond to specific questions.”
