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Saudi Arabian government says Orem rape suspect has no ties to royalty

Posted at 8:53 AM, Apr 21, 2015
and last updated 2015-04-23 11:07:47-04

Orem rape suspect SAOREM, Utah – The Orem Police Department is now questioning an Orem rape suspect’s alleged relation to a Saudi Arabian royal family.

Orem Police Lt. Craig Martinez sent this statement about rape suspect Monsour Alshammari Wednesday:

“There has been some questions as to Mr. Alshammari’s relationship to the Saudi Government/Royalty. In the Detectives’ probable cause (P.C.) statement it alludes to that and in the beginning stages of the investigation Mr. Alshammari claimed that he was related to “royalty” in Saudi Arabia and wanted diplomatic immunity. This claim has never been substantiated by anyone in our office and has no bearing on the case itself.  We are not in the business of doing genealogy work on the suspects we arrest and when the Detective wrote the PC statement and made reference to that, he believed at the time that it was pertinent information for the court to hear.”

Tuesday an affidavit from Utah County stated the Department of Homeland Security discovered Alshammari “is related to Saudi Arabian royalty and he is a Saudi Arabian National, having citizenship from this Middle Eastern country.”

The document states Alshammari told officials he was “sponsored as a student in the United States by the Saudi Arabian Government” when he was booked into jail.

0421 ALSHAMMARI WARRANT AFFIDAVIT pic

Affidavit from Utah County

Alshammari was detained at the Mexican border Monday after posting bail for alleged rape in Utah.Monsour Alshammari

Orem Police issued a warrant for his arrest after they learned he posted the $100,000 bail and was stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Earlier this month 27-year-old Monsour Alshammari was charged with rape and obstruction of justice.

Those charges stem from an alleged incident back in February when a woman told police Alshammari raped her at his Orem apartment.

According to the affidavit, Alshammari denied the allegations but authorities found enough evidence at his apartment to arrest him.

Alshammari was booked into the Utah County Jail but he later posted the $100,000 bail.

Officials said he was released to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and is in a federal detention facility in San Diego.