Attorney: At least 3 of 'turnpike 5' are American

NEWTON FALLS

On Nov. 12, a day before the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, five men were arrested while traveling east on the Ohio Turnpike in Braceville Township.

They are Zakaria O. Warsame, 35, of Columbus; Mohammeddeq M. Hassan, 27, of Tukwila, Wash.; Mohamed A. Mahamoud, 26, of Columbus; Jibril M. Abdiselam, 24, of Seattle; and Said S. Abu, 24, of Columbus.

A trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol said he observed the driver commit two driving violations and made a traffic stop, conducted a search of the car and uncovered marijuana, cash and items frequently used to make fake identification and credit cards, the trooper testified during a preliminary hearing Thursday in Newton Falls Municipal Court.

The headlines from several news organizations Wednesday was that the five men were “foreign nationals,” meaning they were not United States citizens.

After the hearing, however, Atty. A. Joseph Fritz, Newton Falls prosecutor, said: “At least three appear to be American citizens.”

Read the complete story in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.