Police have linked a Clarksburg man arrested in Virginia to incidents at Muslim religious sites in Montgomery County, and he now faces additional charges.
Muhammad Taha, 29, struck and killed a woman with his vehicle in Manassas, Virginia, on March 24, police said.
Prince William County, Virginia, Police located Taha and arrested him on March 25. He was charged with second-degree murder and felony hit-and-run, among other charges.
On April 5, county police announced they had connected Taha to events in Germantown and Gaithersburg. He is charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and two counts of destruction of property.
Police responded to a report of an injured person at a Muslim mosque in Gaithersburg on March 22, where a victim was struck by a vehicle, police said. Surveillance cameras captured parts of the incident and a description of the vehicle was gathered .
Two days later, before the Manassas hit-and-run incident, county police responded to a suspicious situation at the the Islamic Society of Germantown, police said. A vehicle had been seen circling the parking lot, and the driver exited the vehicle and vandalized a parked car with a brick.
County police representatives have been in contact with mosques in the county since the March 22 incident, police said. Detectives believe the incidents were isolated crimes linked to Taha.
Taha is being held without bond in a Prince William County detention center. He will appear in Prince William General District Court on May 20.
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