Thread: PA Bucks County: violent rapist is illegal from Jordan

Suspect in attack may face deportation

Man accused in attack may face immigration charges

By: CHRISTOPHER RUVO
The Intelligencer

Khalid Altawarh isn't just facing prison time for allegedly attempting to kill a Plumstead woman during what police said was a three-hour torture session.

The former restaurateur from New Hope is also facing deportation.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reason to believe Altawarh, who went by the alias "Dave Shookby," is in the United States illegally. As such, ICE filed a deportation detainer against the 37-year-old native of Jordan.

After Altawarh's case is disposed of at the local level he will likely be released to the custody of federal immigration authorities.

While ICE is prohibited from discussing specific cases, spokesman Mark Medvesky said detainees have a hearing before a judge on their immigration status. If it's determined the detainee is in America illegally, he or she is deported.

"The purpose is to make sure people who commit crimes while they're in the United States illegally never make it back into our communities," Medvesky said.

There are cases where someone might be found not guilty of the crime, but are nonetheless in the country illegally. While the specifics of Altawarh's immigration status were not clear, there's the potential that he could be acquitted of all charges in Bucks County but still face deportation.

"If ICE believes there is still a violation of immigration law, we will detain the person and go forward with removal proceedings," Medvesky said.

Altawarh is in Bucks County Prison following his May 8 arrest. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing June 15 at Ottsville district court. There, a judge will decide if there is enough evidence against him for the case to go to trial.

Altawarh is accused of raping, robbing, beating and attempting to kill a woman he knew well at her Plumstead home, police said.

At various times Altawarh beat the victim with a rock, held a knife to her throat, smashed her head against stone steps and tried to tie her up, among other brutal details, court papers said.
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The attack began shortly after 6 a.m. The assault ended more than three hours later when the victim's concerned friend came to her home to check on her after she did not arrive at work as expected. The woman's friend placed her into his vehicle, drove from the scene and called 911.

Altawarh stole the woman's SUV and fled, taking with him a haul of cash he'd stolen from a safe at the victim's home, records said.

Buckingham Officer Stephen Thomas arrested Altawarh after spotting the stolen SUV in Lahaska the same day around 1 p.m.

Court officials were not sure if Altawarh had a lawyer yet. Attempts to reach his attorney were unsuccessful.

Altawarh ran into trouble with police five months before being arrested for the alleged attempted murder.

Police in Lambertville, where Altawarh operated a now-shuttered Middle Eastern restaurant called Moustache, wrote him a summons in January for hindering apprehension and being an unlicensed driver.

After an officer stopped a vehicle Altawarh was driving, the New Hope man attempted to pass off another person's New York license as his own, police said. The officer had stopped Altawarh because his vehicle was drifting over the center line of a road, police said.

It was not clear if Lambertville police checked Altawarh's immigration status following the citation. Police Director Bruce Cocuzza declined comment.

A 2007 directive from the New Jersey Attorney General orders that officers inquire about the immigration status of those arrested for indictable offenses or drunken driving.

Christopher Ruvo can be reached at 215-345-3147 or cruvo@phillyburbs.com.

www.phillyburbs.com

If he is foreign born, citizenship, legal immigrant, vias holder or illegal alien... He's gone. They will revoke his citizenship, if he's convicted of a violent crime and they will deport him.

Good riddance.

Dixie