Gun Incidents Lead To Charges For Man In US Illegally

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — A 22-year-old man living in the United States illegally faces a federal gun charge, as well as state felony counts, following two separate incidents in January, according to the Indianapolis Star. Ahmed Alaklouk is accused of threatening to kill two people while brandishing a gun during an argument at the tire shop he owns, the report stated. Nearly a week earlier on the day of the Women's March, police discovered him with an AR-15-styled rifle — fitted with a scope and bump stock — outside a downtown hotel overlooking the event, the report added.

A Tunisian native with citizenship in Saudi Arabia, Alaklouk had his student visa terminated in September of 2017, the Star reports. It's illegal for individuals in the country illegally to possess firearms, and a federal gun charge was filed against him Wednesday, March 7. He could face as much as 10 years in prison if convicted.

In first incident, hotel security called Indianapolis police at about 3 a.m. Jan. 20 at the Hyatt Regency after spotting six handguns and a rifle in Alaklouk's parked truck, according to the Star. The hotel was near where around 3,500 people would later gather to participate in the Women's March, the report added.

At the hotel, police questioned Alaklouk and told him to put the firearms or out of plain veiw to avoid a break-in, the report stated. When Alaklouk went to move the rifle — made to resemble an AR-15 — to the back seat, he told officers the weapon belonged to his father, the report added.

When hotel security returned to Alaklouk's truck at about 7:45 a.m., the rifle was still in view near the passenger seat, the report stated. Concerned because of the proximity to the Women's March, police and security removed Alaklouk and two other men from their hotel room later in the morning, the report added.

Although he wasn't taken into custody then, Alaklouk was put under surveillance by police that day while he worked at Medo Tire Shop, the business he owns at 3546 W. 16th St., the report stated. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also started an investigation into Alaklouk's immigration status, the report added.

While that investigation was ongoing, Alaklouk was involved in a second gun-related incident, this time at his tire shop, the report stated. On Jan. 27, he allegedly threatened a woman and her father after a disagreement over a sale escalated to guns being drawn on both sides, the report added.

According to court documents, Alaklouk threw the woman's father to the ground when the two came in to complain about a faulty tire they bought at the shop, the report stated. Two of the store employees surrounded the father, and Alaklouk and a worker allegedly pulled out handguns, the report added.

Shots were fired into the air by the woman, who had taken a gun from her car, and Alaklouk finally grabbed his rifle from inside the shop and is accused of ordering the two customers to stay where they were or he would kill them, the report stated. He then pinned the woman's car in with his truck, the report added.

That's when the woman called police, who searched Alaklouk's shop and home, the report stated. Two pellet guns that looked like semi-automatic pistols were found at the store, and a 9mm handgun was discovered at his house, the report added.

When asked about the rifle, Alaklouk told investigators he had lied about the weapon belonging to his father when police saw it at the hotel, the report stated. According to authorities, he admitted that he got the gun from a customer who exchanged it for auto work, the report added.

In this incident, Alaklouk was charged with two counts of felony criminal confinement, two counts of felony intimidation and a count of felony unlawful possession of a firearm, the report stated. He also was charged with misdemeanor battery, and an immigration detainer by Homeland Security was placed on him, which can keep a suspect in custody while the deportation process begins, the report added.

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