UT Tyler Student Arrested on Kidnapping Charges

SMITH COUNTY — An East Texas man was arrested over the weekend for kidnapping. According to KETK, Smith County judicial records show Salman Ali Quraishi, 20, of Tyler, was arrested around 12:20 Friday afternoon by University of Texas at Tyler Police. He’s been charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count of criminal trespassing. Quraishi was booked into the Smith County Jail and was released Saturday on $200,500 bond. Quraishi is listed as a Freshman and Finance major from Plano in the UT Tyler student directory.

The University of Texas at Tyler released the following statement regarding the arrest:

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, UT Tyler police were made aware of two recent incidents of a UT Tyler student victim being forced into a vehicle against her will by an individual known to her. Due to the ongoing investigation, the suspect in the case, also a UT Tyler student, was interim suspended and issued a criminal trespass warning, banning him from coming onto UT Tyler property.

On Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, the victim in this case notified the university police department via a panic call over the Patriot Guardian smartphone app that the individual, who is the subject of the criminal trespass warning, was in the University Center and had approached her. Police arrived and located the subject in the University Center, and he was arrested on the charge of criminal trespass and transported to the Smith County Jail. Later that day, two warrants for kidnapping were served on the suspect at the Smith County Jail.