The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)
By Meghan Rubado , Staff writer
The town of Onondaga man charged Friday with posing as a police officer and trying to abduct three women in Syracuse was released Saturday from the Onondaga County Justice Center jail on $2,500 bail, jail officials said.
Abdo Ahmed Mobaraz, 34, of 4613 Broad Road, was arraigned Saturday morning on four felony counts of criminal impersonation and several misdemeanors, including attempted unlawful imprisonment, criminal possession of a weapon, stalking and menacing. He gripped a screwdriver as he tried to kidnap one of the women, police said.
All three women got away and called 911. Mobaraz also is accused of trying to get into City Hall at 5:45 a.m. by telling a female employee he was a police officer.
Judge Thomas Higgins Jr. assigned lawyer Edward Klein to represent Mobaraz, who is scheduled to return to court at 10 a.m. Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
Mobaraz claimed to be a police officer and ordered a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center into his car about 6 a.m., police said. The nurse refused and called police.
Police said he then followed a 34-year-old bookkeeper as she drove to work at Julie’s Place in the Regency Towers and got into her car after she parked there. He told her he was a police officer, officials said, and the woman yelled at him to get out of her car. She escaped and called police about 6:42 a.m.
Mobaraz then tried to push a female employee of Elmcrest Children’s Center into his car outside the center, 960 Salt Springs Road, police said. She called 911 just before 7 a.m., and Mobaraz took off in his car, which was spotted by a city police officer on Almond Street. He was taken into custody about 7 a.m.
In each abduction attempt, Mobaraz flashed a “police” identification. One victim said it looked like a driver’s license. Another said it looked like a credit card, police said.
The victims, including the City Hall worker, are all in their 20s and 30s.
Assistant District Attorney Scott Wells asked Higgins to set bail at $10,000 cash, $15,000 bond for each of the four cases.
Defense lawyer Bonnie Levy entered a plea of not guilty for Mobaraz and requested a lower bail. She suggested $2,500, given Mobaraz’s lack of a criminal record and the fact that his most serious charge is the lowest level of felony crime.
Higgins agreed, setting bail at $2,500 cash or bond. Mobaraz was bailed out at 2 p.m., jail officials said.
Meghan Rubado can be reached at 470-2182 or mrubado@syracuse.com