One day before 30-year-old Mohamed Husien, of Davis, allegedly worked with an accomplice and committed a string of armed robberies and carjacking across the Bay Area and beyond, his family says he was in a mental health crisis.
They said they tried to warn a law enforcement agency in Woodland, California, and get emergency help.
“He was talking to himself back and forth. He had all these grandiose ideas of, ‘Oh, I own everything, everything is mine, I can heal people, people come to me from all around the world,’” said Rana Husien, whose family exclusively spoke to the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit after the crime spree.
“He was not mentally stable, but he believed he was,” said Ragad Husien, Mohamed’s other sister.
Sisters warned another police department 1 day before crime spree
A Jan. 16 phone call from the sisters to the Woodland Police Department, obtained by the Investigative Unit, confirms the sisters tried to warn law enforcement about their brother.
“He might be non-cooperative. You see him talking to himself. He sees demons and says he sees people’s emotions,” Ragad told a Woodland Police Department dispatcher.
Mohamed Husien with his two children.
Officers had just visited their home trying to conduct a welfare check on Mohamed after a Woodland car dealership reported him for rummaging through desk drawers.
“We just want to make sure when [officers] do find him, because they’re looking for him in Davis right now and Woodland, to have Mobile Crisis or a mental health professional because he’s actively in psychosis,” Ragad said on the call. “We’re really worried about how they will deal with him.”
Woodland police couldn’t locate Mohamed. About a day later, officials said he went on to rob multiple stores, steal a Corvette from a South Bay dealership and get into three shootouts with law enforcement in Hollister and the South Bay.
The last shooting was on Jan. 21 with San Jose police where Mohamed allegedly wounded a sergeant. Police said officers shot and ran Mohamed over with a patrol car to stop him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
San Jose PD says they didn’t know the suspect’s identity during pursuit
San Jose police told the Investigative Unit they didn’t know who Mohamed was or anything about his mental health history when they were chasing him, only that they were trying to stop a dangerous suspect.
“The encounter unfolded rapidly,” the department said in an emailed statement. “The suspect’s escalating behavior and increased propensity for violence did not present officers with an opportunity to disengage, slow the situation, or transition to alternative response options.”
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Husien led law enforcement on a multi-county chase that included robberies, carjackings and shootouts.
Husien’s family said they are glad the sergeant who was injured is recovering. They don’t dispute Mohamed went on a violent crime spree but wonder why police raided their home at 1 a.m. the following morning. They said Mohamed did not live there, only his parents and sisters.
Family questions SJPD’s search warrant following crime spree
Cell phone video provided to NBC Bay Area from the family shows inside their Davis home after the search. They say it was left a mess, including the cover of their ceiling crawlspace leaning in the hallway, rooms strewn with clothes and drawers, and a mattress overturned.
Outside the home, Ragad recorded her father asking police why they were there. She said police told them they had a search warrant, but officers couldn’t show it because it was sealed by a judge.
The warrant in this case was issued under seal by a judge. When a search warrant is sealed, the sealing order is a court directive that temporarily restricts disclosure of the warrant and related documents at the time of service.
San Jose Police Department
“When we came back [into the house], we found that all our mobile devices, the rest of them were taken away,” Ragad said. “And they didn’t leave us an itemized bill. They never left us a receipt, a warrant receipt.”
Three independent legal experts, including a retired judge, told the Investigative Unit even if a case is under seal, police are legally required to at least leave a copy of the signed search warrant and list of items seized – unless the judge specifically orders those documents be sealed as well.
The family has filed a complaint against the San Jose Police Department for how the agency conducted the search warrant. The department responded to NBC Bay Area’s inquiry about the complaint in an email, saying, “As the case proceeds through the legal process, it may be unsealed, at which point there will be greater public visibility. Until then, we are unable to comment further on the open investigation.”
The San Jose Police Department’s Internal Affairs division and its Independent Police Auditor are both aware of the family’s complaint. The Auditor’s Office said the complaint will be handled as a separate matter from the officer-involved shooting.