Two Saudi men arrested for boarding school bus to Wharton High School

5-20-2006

Mana Saleh Almanajam
and
Shaker Mohsen Alsidran

Tampa, Florida — Two men from Saudi Arabia were arrested today after they boarded a public school bus taking students to Wharton High School, the sheriff"s office reported.

Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20, both of Tampa, were charged with trespassing on school grounds as unlawful riders on a school bus.

Deputies say the two boarded the bus at a regular bus stop at Fletcher Avenue and 42nd street. Deputies said the bus driver and the students saw them and became concerned by their presence. The driver notified her supervisors who, in turn, called authorities.<

A sheriff"s deputy met then at Wharton High school and charged with them with trespassing.

The two men " initially told deputies they were from Morocco, but later admitted to being from Saudi Arabia," the sheriff"s office said. " They told authorities they are enrolled at the English Language Institute at the University of South Florida. The defendants gave several versions of the reason they took a school bus to a high school, among those being they wanted to enroll in easier English language classes."

Investigators say the two arrived in the United States about six months ago and are required to be enrolled at the English Language Institute.<

A sheriff"s spokesman say they are registered students at the university

Local, state and federal agents searched the residences of the two men and found nothing of concern.

Both men were taken to the Orient Road Jail