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No bail for man accused of trying to bring knife on TIA flight

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 26, 2009

TAMPA - A federal magistrate today ordered a 24-year-old Saudi Arabian national held without bail on a charge he tried to bring a knife with a 7-inch blade aboard a plane at Tampa International Airport.

Raed Abduhl-Rahman Alsaif was arrested June 4 as he tried to board US Airways flight 1077 to Phoenix and Portland, Ore., according to a criminal complaint.

During screening, an officer spotted a large chef's knife concealed between the outside fabric and the expandable pull handles of one of Alsaif's bags, the complaint states.

A federal prosecutor said Alsaif is in the United States on a student visa and was attending the University of Tampa until he was "academically dismissed" for bad grades May 27. Because he failed to file a timely appeal, he is in violation of his visa.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Hansen said Alsaif would be held on an immigration detainer if he were allowed to post bail.

Hansen said Alsaif had numerous credit and identification cards, some in other people's names, when he was arrested. He also detailed a spotty record of addresses Alsaif gave to investigators and his school; Alsaif was carrying two Florida ID cards with different addresses.

Alsaif's father is a former diplomat from Saudi Arabia, the prosecutor said.

Alsaif told agents he planned to call the consulate because his father knows the king, Hansen said. He also recently told a friend he planned to flee the country because he wanted to get away from requirements imposed on him by Hillsborough County courts relating to a drug charge.

According to an arrest report, Alsaif told officers a friend gave him the bag and that he was unaware of the contents. Authorities said the friend denied owning the bag or giving it to Alsaif.

Defense attorney William Bryan said Alsaif lived in the United States from the age of 1 month until he was about 15 years old, when his father had to return to Saudi Arabia for work.

Bryan said Alsaif's brother, sister and brother-in-law were willing to post bond for him and that he could live with relatives in Portland, where he was headed when he was arrested.

Bryan said Alsaif has attended UT for about two years and planned to appeal his dismissal but couldn't because of his arrest.

"There is no evidence that my client actually touched that knife … or actually knew the knife was in the bag," Bryan said. "My client had no knowledge that the knife was in his bag."

But U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun III said it appears Alsaif "hasn't been entirely candid," adding that, "The knife is a frightening knife."

Refusing to set bail, McCoun said, "I just don't get the secure feeling that he's a good risk."

The FBI in Philadelphia has said it is looking into whether there is a connection between Alsaif's arrest and the arrest of two people in Philadelphia that same day. The Philadelphia passenger and airline employee were charged with trying to smuggle a gun onto a flight bound for Phoenix.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837.

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