Police, schools respond to parents’ attack on daughter near Timberline High School
Two parents are facing a host of criminal charges, including attempted murder, for their role in an attempted abduction of their daughter earlier this month outside a Lacey high school, court records show.
And at least one parent is questioning how events leading up to assault on the girl were handled by the school, the police and the state.
Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife, Zahraa Ali, 40, were arrested on suspicion of multiple crimes on Oct. 18 after they allegedly assaulted and attempted to kidnap their 17-year-old daughter near a bus stop outside Timberline High School. Their goal was to take her overseas for an arranged marriage to an older man, The Olympian reported.
During the incident, witnesses reported that the girl went limp and appeared to lose consciousness as her father choked her while her boyfriend and multiple people tried to pry him off of her. The girl regained consciousness once she was freed, but then her mother allegedly tried to grab her by the neck as well.
A series of amended criminal charges were filed in Thurston County Superior Court on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
The father is accused of second-degree attempted murder/domestic violence, first-degree attempted kidnapping/domestic violence, second-degree attempted kidnapping/domestic violence, second-degree assault/domestic violence and fourth-degree assault.
The mother also is now accused of second-degree attempted murder/domestic violence. In addition, there is first-degree attempted kidnapping/domestic violence, second-degree attempted kidnapping/domestic violence, second-degree assault/domestic violence and second-degree burglary.
Both are set to be arraigned on Nov. 5, according to the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office.
What led to this?
The girl’s 16-year-old boyfriend was punched during the Oct. 18 incident and he suffered a boxer’s fracture to one of his fingers as he and others struggled to free his girlfriend from her father.
The injury is now in a cast, the boyfriend’s father said. He spoke to The Olympian this week and raised additional concerns about how the school, police and the state have handled the situation. Some of the details were included in a protection order he sought for his son.
“There are a multitude of things that have me extremely perturbed,” he said, adding that he is weighing whether to consult an attorney.
“There is a negligent aspect to this on so many levels,” he said.
He said his son had been dating the girl since about February, but it wasn’t until summer when he learned the girl was facing troubles at home. In September, the girl’s mother showed up at the high school and allegedly grabbed and yelled at his son, court records show.
The mother was immediately trespassed from the campus, according to the court information.
Then, about a week before the Oct. 18 incident, the girl reportedly had run away from home. Lacey police were alerted about her running away and then came to the boyfriend’s home looking for the girl, the father told The Olympian. The problem, he said, is that police brought her parents with them.
“They know where we live and they know how to locate us,” he said.
Lacey police Sgt. Jeremy Knight said Thursday that “we hear his concerns.”
“We are working cooperatively with the school district and the prosecutor’s office and appropriate measures are in place,” he said.
School district responds
The boyfriend’s father also asked: Where were the adults as his son and the girl left school on Oct. 18?
“At the end of the school day, the school made my child responsible for this girl’s safety by asking him to help this girl get on the bus,” he wrote in his protection order.
The girl would later run back to school to get help, which triggered a lockdown, “but they continued to put this girl’s family situation in the lap of my child as if he’s an adult and understands the gravity of everything,” the father wrote.
Timberline sent a message to parents that day.
“After school today (10/18), there was an altercation near campus that required response from law enforcement,” the message reads. “We were put on lockdown for a brief period of time to maintain safety and order on campus. Upon instructions from Lacey PD, the lockdown was lifted.”
The district issued a statement about the boyfriend’s father’s concerns.
“We work with families, staff, and law enforcement partners to maintain safety and security on our campuses, and we take student and staff safety extremely seriously,” said spokeswoman Amy Blondin.
“When unique situations arise, we work with concerned parties to provide a safe learning environment, and we are doing so in this case.
“As standard practice, including in this instance, we conduct a debrief after situations relating to student safety and consider whether there are actions we can take to improve in the future.”
The boyfriend’s father expressed frustration about Child Protective Services work on the case, claiming they were working with the girl and then they stopped just as her situation worsened.
A media contact at CPS could not be reached on Thursday.
His son is Black, the father said, and although he doesn’t want to make this about race, his concern and frustration has him thinking about unequal treatment for Black and brown people.
“Honestly, that’s where my head goes,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
Parents accused of assaulting, trying to kidnap daughter in Lacey over arranged marriage
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