A Michigan man who had been barred from seeing his daughter surrendered to police after being accused of kidnapping her from Pennsylvania and making terrorist threats.
Jafar Almaarej, 39, had been on the run since police said he went to see his ex-wife in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday for a custody visit with their 7-year-old daughter. Millcreek Township Police Detective Adam Hardner told WJBK, a Detroit Fox affiliate, that while the mother was at work that afternoon, Almaarej texted her that he was leaving with their daughter.
Hardner told WJBK that Almaarej allegedly told his ex-wife that if she called the cops, “they would have to search for their bones.”
Millcreek Township Police Chief Carter Mook told Law&Crime that Almaarej surrendered to police around 3:00 p.m. Wednesday. He confirmed that the girl was safe and would be reunited with her mother. Almaarej is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday.
Hardner stated that Almaarej’s ex-wife has sole custody of their daughter and a protection from abuse order that prohibits him from contacting either of them.
Despite the order, Hardner told WJBK that the mother apparently chose to leave the 7-year-old girl with her father while she went to work on Sunday.
Police had been searching in Pennsylvania’s Erie County and surrounding areas, but they expanded their search to Dearborn, Michigan, where Almaarej lives. Hardner speculated that Almaarej swapped license plates on his black Jeep Wrangler while still on the run.
