Houston Man Arrested In Murder-For-Hire Plot Of HPD Officer

HOUSTON, TX -- A Houston man was arrested after he allegedly tried to hire a hit man to kill a Houston Police Officer.

Police arrested Mohammed S. Mohamed, 47, and charged him with attempted capital murder.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said HPD's Major Offender's Division got the case at the end of May after learning that someone allegedly wanted a particular HPD officer dead, and had hired a hit man to kill the officer.

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"When this threat became known to the police department, we knew exactly where to go and who to bring into it," Acevedo said.

An investigator posing as a hit man met with Mohamed, who owns a logistics business on Houston's trendy east side.

Acevedo said Mohamed was angry because he'd been cited by HPD for nuisance violations for having too many vehicles on his property.

"He [Mohamed] wanted the officer dead because he believed this officer was interfering with his business operation," Acevedo said. "He told a witness that to get the business to code would have cost him tens of thousands of dollars."

Mohamed initially told the undercover officer who he thought was a hit man that he wanted the officer to be disabled by throwing acid in the officer's face, Acevedo said.

However, Mohamed changed his mind and decided he wanted the officer dead.

Mohamed allegedly covered his face with bandannas and baseball caps to avoid being extorted by the alleged hit man and wanted to have the officer killed for $2,000 cash.

Investigators said Mohamed made a $500 down payment for the hit and offered to pay the rest when he saw the officer was dead.

Investigators staged the murder to look like a botched robbery and took photos that were provided to Mohamed.

"Anyone who is willing to pay earnest money to harm [someone] with acid...we know that's an individual that has absolutely no heart, and absolutely no care about the safety of others," Acevedo said.

When investigators met with Mohamed in a darkened city park, they were accompanied by SWAT officers who arrested Mohamed.

Investigators said when Mohamed saw the photos of the staged murder, he seemed pretty happy with the result.

"We do have some video of him seeing the pictures and his expression was surprise and he was also kind of happy, actually," said Sgt. Jason Alderetti, an investigator with the Major Offender's Division. "He thought his problems were over."

Sgt. Terry Seagler with the Major Offender's Division said the investigation was complex and that there were issues related to language, since Mohamed preferred communicating in Arabic, which meant everything had to be carefully translated.

It dragged on for a long time and it was a lot to control for that amount of time," he said.

Acevedo said since Mohamed has ties to Egypt, he is considered a flight risk and is currently being held without bond.

Image: HPD

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