Man asked passerby to help turn van into bomb, deputies say

CONROE, Texas – A man asked a person who was walking by Tuesday afternoon to help him turn his van into a bomb so he could blow up the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, deputies said.

The incident was reported about 1:30 p.m. in a parking lot at College Park Drive and the North Freeway.

Deputies said Danyal Arafat was working on his van in the parking lot, when someone who was walking into a nearby store asked him a question. Arafat handed the person a small bag of money and asked him to go inside and purchase shotgun shells and model rocket motors so he could finish making a bomb, deputies said. They said the man refused but kept Arafat talking while he contacted law enforcement.

Officials said deputies established a perimeter and arrested Arafat. They said Arafat was crouched over in the engine compartment of his van when he was taken into custody.

Arafat’s van was searched, and no explosives were found, deputies said.

Arafat was charged with felony terroristic threat.

Deputies said Arafat is well known to them, and he suffers from a diminished mental capacity.

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