FLOWER MOUND, Texas — Editor's note: The video above is from a report on Feb. 14, 2023.
An arrest has been made after a mosque in Flower Mound was burglarized and donations meant to go to Turkey and Syria earthquake victims were stolen.
Flower Mound police said on Tuesday that Muhammad Khan was arrested by the Richardson Police Department on Saturday, Feb. 25. He had already been identified as the suspect in the days following the Feb. 13 incident at the Islamic Association of Lewisville and Flower Mound (IALFM) mosque, but police hadn't previously been able to find him and make an arrest.
According to Flower Mound police, Richardson officers were able to locate Khan and pull him over Saturday because his arrest warrant was attached to his license plate and vehicle, which was allegedly used in the crime.
The 36-year-old from Virginia was charged with three felony counts of burglary of a building.
He was booked into Denton County Jail.
Officials with the mosque told WFAA a day after the burglary that someone in a mask went inside the building and stole money from metal lockboxes. The lockboxes contained donations for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
IALFM President Abdul-Razaq Khazi-Syed showed WFAA the damage left behind from the Feb. 13 burglary.
He said the mosque was closed at the time but that the suspect entered through an unlocked side door. Khazi-Syed said the suspect then broke into the donation room by tearing a hole into the door. The lockboxes were then forced open.
On Feb. 16, Flower Mound police determined through surveillance images and video that Khan was the suspect in the burglary.
Previous arrest
Khan was also the suspect in a theft at the Islamic Society of Denton mosque in July 2021. Police said Khan was accused of taking money from the donation area without consent.
According to police, Khan told detectives in that instance that he needed financial assistance and took money to return home to Virginia. That case was filed with the district attorney's office.