Dearborn Heights police have announced the arrest of an Illinois man accused of making a threat against a local mosque in late September. The threat was reported on the evening of September 29 at the Islamic Institute of America near Ford Road and Kinloch Street. Police immediately increased security. The call came just one day after the deadly attack at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc that left multiple victims and rattled places of worship across the state.
Investigators traced the source of the threat to Elgin, Illinois. The suspect, identified as 63-year-old Kenneth Gehrke, was developed through joint work between the Dearborn Heights Police Department, Elgin Police Department, FBI, Wayne County Department of Homeland Security and the Detroit and Southeast Michigan Intelligence and Information Center. Detectives gathered information and evidence linking Gehrke to the threat.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office reviewed the case and issued an arrest warrant. Gehrke turned himself in and was transported back to Michigan. He was booked at the Dearborn Heights Police holding facility on November 10 and is now lodged in the Wayne County Jail. He is facing charges that include making a terrorist threat, committing a hate crime and criminal harassment.
Dearborn Heights Police Chief Ahmed Haidar said he is pleased the suspect was found and taken into custody. He credited the officer in charge, Sergeant Ahmad Mazloum, along with the department’s detective bureau and federal partners for pushing the case forward.
