A 31-year-old man arrested over the weekend allegedly toting more than half a dozen Molotov cocktails in his backpack was possibly planning to threaten an Orland Park mosque, police said.
It was about 2:55 a.m. Saturday when Mokena police officers spotted Hamed Alsaidi walking in the middle of 191st Street near LaGrange Road, Mokena Police Chief Brian Benton said, adding it was actually the second time officers encountered him in the space of a few hours.
But when officers stopped him that second time, Alsaidi, of the 5700 block of Circle Drive in Oak Lawn, gave them a false name, Benton said.
When officers learned of the bogus name, Alsaidi was taken into custody for walking in the roadway and giving officers a fake name and he was searched, a search that included the backpack he was wearing, the chief said.
Inside the backpack they found a blanket and seven or eight glass bottles of various sizes filled with what appeared to be alcohol, with cloth stuffed in them, according to Benton.
Also in the backpack officers found the word “mosque” scribbled on a scrap of paper. Also on the paper were a drawing and directions, according to Benton.
“We called our state fire marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the FBI to assist in the investigation,” Benton said.
Earlier that evening, officers had been called to a gas station at 187th and Wolf to look into a report of a suspicious person who behind the building, Benton said. “They asked him what he was doing and he said he was just looking for a place to sleep,” Benton said.
Alsaidi said he wanted to go to a Quick Mart nearby, so officers gave him a lift and dropped him off there, Benton said. “He didn’t do anything wrong but they did keep an eye out the next few hours.”
Ultimately, the Will County state’s attorney’s office later approved charges of unlawful use of a weapon and obstructing a peace officer, both of which are felonies, Benton said.
In a Facebook post, Orland Park police said they learned the Mokena arrest possibly involved threats directed toward the Orland Park Prayer Center, a mosque at 16530 104th Ave. in Orland Park.
Since learning of the incident, the Orland Park Police Department has remained in close communication with the Mokena Police Department, federal law enforcement and security personnel at the Orland Park Prayer Center, according to the post.
A Will County judge on Sunday released Alsaidi on home monitoring. Alsaidi was expected back in court on Aug. 24, according to Benton.
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