NJ terror bombing suspect’s mom was charged with beating and biting 7-year-old
ELIZABETH — The mother of the New Jersey terrorist bombing suspect was arrested in 2010 for beating and biting a 7-year-old boy, New Jersey 101.5 has learned.
The child abuse charge against Ahmad Khan Rahimi’s mother is the latest known example of the family’s history with domestic violence.
Rahimi, 28, is facing federal terrorism charges in connection with bombs detonated last month in Seaside Park, the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan and Midtown Elizabeth. The New York blast injured 31 people. He’s pleaded not guilty to state charges of attempted murder of police officers in the Sept. 19 shootout before his arrest in Linden.
Rahimi was arrested in 2014 with stabbing one of his brothers in the leg and threatening to beat his then-17-year-old sister with a dumbbell. The family called police to the home above their fried chicken restaurant a day later.
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The siblings, however, declined to press charges and a Union County grand jury did not indict Rahimi.
Rahami had been arrested before in 2012, for reportedly violating a restraining order.
And the family had a run-in with the criminal justice system four years before the stabbing, when a school nurse at a city elementary school called police and state child protection officials to report suspected child abuse.
The police officer who responded to the school said the boy was pulled from class and told the cop that Najiba Rahami would “hit him when he is bad” and that she “was mad at him and bit him on his arm.”
The child pulled up his sleeve and the cop counted seven large bruises and “what appeared to be a large bite mark on his upper right arm,” according to a copy of the police report obtained Thursday by New Jersey 101.5 under the state’s Open Public Records Act.
New Jersey 101.5 is not identifying the child because of his age and the nature of the accusation.
The report said that the police department’s juvenile detective bureau and the county prosecutor would follow up. But it was not clear Thursday how the child abuse charge against Rahimi’s mother was handled in court. She has no conviction record for any indictable offense. The Department of Children and Families does not publicly discuss its investigations.
The same batch of police records released includes a police report filed by one of Rahimi's brothers, Mohammad Khan, against their father. The then 26-year-old told police that his father had access to his personal information and used it to turn off his cell phone. He also claimed his father destroys his mail "because he doesn't like the girl he is dating."
Published reports said Rahimi’s parents and younger siblings fled to Virginia after his arrest.
Rahimi has been previously identified in legal and police records as Rahami before his defense attorney this month told a Superior Court judge that he should be referred to as Rahimi.
Rahimi this week was moved from the hospital where he had been recovering to a state prison for his safety, officials said.
Rahimi’s father told the press that he had warned FBI years earlier about his son’s fascination with jihadist propaganda. Federal officials have said they never fully investigated Rahimi, claiming that his father subsequently retracted his statement. But Mohammad Rahami insisted last month in an interview with The New York Times that the feds “didn’t do their jobs.”
Rahami claimed earlier this month that U.S. officials were now “punishing” his family by not allowing his wife and one of their sons to return to the United States after traveling to Afghanistan. He also claimed that Rahimi’s wife, whose family is Afghani, was being barred re-entry.
Rahimi, who was born in Afghanistan and is a U.S. citizen, has a daughter with his former high school girlfriend, who filed for sole custody and a restraining order after the bombing.
Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-438-1015 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.
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