A man accused of abducting his mother and two younger siblings from a home in Perinton over the weekend has been arrested, according to the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a home on Crossover Road at approximately 3:19 p.m. Saturday for a reported abduction. Investigators said 54-year-old Mouna Omar Saleh Ali, her 7-year-old daughter, and 9-year-old son had been taken from the residence.
Authorities identified 26-year-old Amar Saleh as the primary suspect.
Investigators said the victims were located safe later Saturday night at a residence in Rochester.
Three additional suspects — 30-year-old Omar Saleh, 26-year-old Dajour Paul, and 31-year-old Gamil Ahmed — were arrested Saturday and charged with kidnapping.
According to reporting by 13 WHAM in Rochester, the suspects forcibly restrained the victims around 2:48 p.m. and removed them from what authorities described as a “safe harbor” home. Prosecutors allege the group forced the victims into a vehicle and transported them to another location with the intent of hiding them from family members, Child Protective Services, and the Department of State.
Court documents further allege the defendants planned to send the children to Yemen.
The three men arrested Saturday pleaded not guilty during arraignment proceedings Sunday morning.
Amar Saleh remained at large until Monday morning, when authorities said he was arrested during a joint investigation involving the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force and New York State Police.
Following Sunday’s arraignment, defense attorney David Stern, who represents Omar Saleh, argued the incident was not a kidnapping but rather an effort to retrieve the children from what he described as an unlawful placement by Child Protective Services. Stern also claimed the children’s mother went willingly.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
