Abdinasir Abdi, 27, was arrested by U.S. customs officers on Tuesday. He is wanted for rape and sodomy charges in St. Louis, Missouri and was on the Toronto Police Fugitive Squad's most wanted list.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
A Somali man wanted for two counts of rape and a single charge of sodomy in the United States was arrested by U.S. customs officers in Niagara Falls on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Abdinasir Abdi, 27, a citizen of Somalia and permanent resident of the United States, was arrested while trying to enter the United States on foot at the Rainbow Bridge.
He was wanted by the St. Louis Police Department and was also listed as one of 10 people on the Toronto Police Fugitive Squad’s most wanted list.
“It is our understanding that he turned himself in at the bridge to U.S. authorities because of the list,” said Toronto Police Det. Andrew Lawson.
During his arrest he mentioned to officers that he was featured on the fugitive squad’s list, Lawson added.
According to police, he has family living in Toronto and was considered armed and dangerous.
He is the first suspect on the list, which was published in January, to be arrested.
“We published the list because we wanted to refresh some old cases and put it back out in the public. We exhausted all means at our end, as far as where these people might be, and we just put it out hoping we might get some type of tip and lead to exactly what happened.”
Abdi was turned over to the Niagara Falls Police Department for extradition to St. Louis, Missouri. If convicted he could be deported back to Somalia, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.