Associated Press
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MADISON, Ala. (AP) — A teenager accused of killing his Discovery Middle School classmate was arrested Friday in Texas after police tracked his mom's cellphone to find them, police said.
Hammad Memon, 16, and his mother, Safia Memon, were arrested just before 6:30 p.m. in Dallas, said Madison police Lt. John Stringer.
The teenager is accused of the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Todd Brown at Discovery Middle School in February 2010 in Madison. He was out of jail, having been released to his parents' custody on a $75,000 bond in October 2010. He faced trial as an adult June 18.
A phone message for the teen's attorney, Bruce Gardner, was not immediately returned late Friday evening.
A judge revoked bail for the dual-citizenship teen on Friday after authorities learned earlier in the week that he obtained a Pakistani passport and was considered a flight risk, Stringer said. Hammad Memon had surrendered his U.S. passport when he was released to his parents.
According to court documents, Express Mail delivered a package from the Embassy of Pakistan to Memon Wednesday in care of his mother, Safia Memon. The package appeared to contain a passport, according to the Express Mail carrier, who said Memon signed for the package, court records show.
Under the rules of Memon’s release on bail, he had to surrender his passport, refrain from obtaining a new one and agree to remain in the U.S.
In seeking to revoke Memon’s bond Friday morning, Madison County Assistant District Attorney Tim Gann told a judge Memon has dual citizenship with the United States and Pakistan and “there would be no way for local authorities to be notified if he obtained a passport,” according to the court record.
Gann described Memon as “an extreme flight risk because he is facing a possible life sentence and is a citizen of Pakistan.” He also describes the teen as “a danger to the public based upon the serious nature of the crime that he is charged with.”
The judge agreed to revoke the bond.
About an hour later, around noon, emergency dispatchers issued a be-on-the-lookout alert, or BOLO, to law-enforcement officers to search for Memon.
Madison Police worked with a cellphone provider to determine that the two were in the downtown Dallas area. Authorities there saw him on a sidewalk and chased him four blocks by foot to a local business. The teen gave up after running into a restroom and had nowhere to go, Stringer said.
Authorities found both had passports from Pakistan and had a large amount of money on them, he said.
Hammad Memon was arrested in Dallas for bond revocation and his mother was charged with hindering prosecution, Stringer said. Authorities will begin the process to extradite them to Alabama next week, Stringer said.
Todd Brown, who was 14 when he was shot to death at the Madison school, lived with his mother in Madison but his father Michael Brown is of Tanner.
The Browns later sued the school system and the Memon family in connection with Todd’s death.
— News Courier reporter Jean Cole contributed to this report.
