FBI seizes computers, store video in bomb case

Agents go into a family home and a Wal-Mart.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE and KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writers
Published August 8, 2007

TAMPA - Investigators have removed computers from the family home of a University of South Florida student accused of having pipe bombs in his car, according to Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

He said the FBI contacted the parents of Yousseff Samir Megahed of 4959 Anniston Circle, Tampa, who were on vacation, and got permission to search their home. When they returned, their computers were gone.

Megahed is one of two USF students arrested near a naval base in South Carolina over the weekend.

Ahmed Abda Mohamed's family questioned why the men are being held on such a high bail amount.

"They know their son is innocent," said M. Nachabe, faculty adviser for student Mohamed, after speaking by telephone with the man's parents in Egypt.

Many questions remain in the case of Mohamed, of 2107 E Nedro Road, Tampa, an engineering graduate student, and Megahed, a 21-year-old undergraduate.

Mohamed's age is listed variously as 24 and 26 in law enforcement records.

The men were arrested Saturday afternoon in Goose Creek, S.C., on charges of possession of an explosive device. After a prosecutor argued the men were flight risks, a judge set bail at $500,000 for Mohamed and $300,000 for Megahed.

The FBI declined to discuss the case. An arrest affidavit from the Berkeley County, S.C., Sheriff's Office says that Mohamed told deputies he made the devices from components he bought at Wal-Mart.

The men told deputies that the explosives were fireworks, according to Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber said the FBI had gone to a store for surveillance footage but declined to say which store or what is on the tape.

"The FBI has been to a store and picked up videotape," she said. "It's an open investigation. I don't think it would be appropriate to respond to specific questions."

It remained unclear Tuesday exactly why the men were in rural South Carolina or if they had a destination.

Neither man has a criminal record, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

On July 24, Tampa police accused Mohamed of illegally shooting squirrels in an east Tampa park. Police say he and Ahmad A. Ishtay, 19, used a pellet gun to shoot the animals in Rowlette Park.

Both were issued citations for discharging a firearm and using an illegal method of taking game, a report said. The case has not been resolved, court records show.

"He invited me," Ishtay said about going to the park with Mohamed.

Ishtay, who rents a Temple Terrace house and works at Boston Market, said he met Mohamed and Megahed through a roommate. He said he didn't know the roommate's last name, but he was from Mauritania.

Another of Ishtay's roommates, Ghassan Salhab, 27, said the man from Mauritania moved here from Canada recently and returned there Monday.

Ishtay and Salhab said that sometimes when Mohamed and Megahed visited their house in Temple Terrace they would cook, but neither knew them well.

Megahed's family did not return a message for comment.

Mohamed's family lives in Egypt, but his faculty adviser said they're well aware of the situation and working for their son's release, asking the Egyptian consulate for help.

News researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 7, 2007, 23:49:12]