Crime & Safety

Update: Dahlberg Turns Himself In; Charged with Misdemeanor for Assaulting Cab Driver

The taxi driver has a broken jaw.

Update: Ed Dahlberg of Clifton turned himself in to Fairfax County Police at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, and was served with a misdemeanor assault charge, according to Fairfax County Police.

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An arrest warrant remains on file for Ed Dahlberg, the Clifton resident charged with assaulting a taxi driver and fleeing the scene on foot in the early morning of Friday, April 26. 

Find out what's happening in Fairfax Stationfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The 39-year-old taxi driver, Mohamed Salim, is Muslim, and claims that Dahlberg compared him to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects and repeatedly punched him, resulting in a fractured jaw, a head injury and hearing loss.

Dahlberg denies the claims. 

Find out what's happening in Fairfax Stationfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

  • See Dahlberg Attorney Releases Statement on Alleged Taxi Cab Assault

Salim, a US Army veteran, picked up Dahlberg at the Country Club of Fairfax on the early morning of Friday, April 26. The cab driver took 11 minutes of video of Dahlberg drunkenly arguing over Muslim extremism and provided the video to the Washington Post. 

“If you’re a [expletive] Muslim flying jets into the World Trade Center, then [expletive] you, I will slice your [expletive] throat right now,” Dahlberg said.

Dahlberg then knocked the phone away as Salim tried to call the police. Dahlberg then fled the scene on foot.

  • See 

That may be the end of the video, but not the story.

"After the recording Dahlberg got out of the car, and (Salim) said, 'I'm going to call 911,' and he (Dahlberg) gets back into the car, called the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings his cousins and punched him a couple more times before running into the woods," said Salim's attorney Gadeir Abbas of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Salim refused treatment at the scene and drove himself to the INOVA Fair Oaks Emergency Department.

The hospital report shows that Salim had a fractured jaw and a head injury. No specifics were available on the extent of the head injury. Salim, who also complained of pain in his right ear, was then prescribed with pain killers, which warn that he not drive or operate heavy machinery. 

Abbas is working for the Commonwealth's Attorney to get Dahlberg's potential sentencing over the alleged assault increased by classifying it as a hate crime. 

"At this point what Mohamed is focused on is seeking justice in this case through the criminal justice process, and here a local prosecutor can send a message that active acts of violence against Muslims are out of place in Virginia," said Abbas, adding that Salim is weighing options on whether to file a civil suit against Dahlberg. 

Dahlberg is president of Emerald Aviation, Inc., which he founded in 1995. The Emerald website is currently down, undergoing "scheduled maintenance".

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