A state Muslim organization Wednesday morning called for the swift apprehension of a man in an alleged attack on a Pakistani limousine driver in Oklahoma City.
Badar Aslam, the victim of the alleged attack, said that on April 29 he picked up a couple in Norman and drove them to the Thunder NBA game in Oklahoma City.
On the way to the game they were rude and complained about having a Pakistani driver, he said.
After the game, he arranged to meet them at a nearby hotel to take them back.
According to the police report of the incident, Aslam said the man was angry about where he parked the limo.
He said the man became abusive, called him a terrorist, threatened to kill him and said he should go back to Pakistan.
He said the man grabbed his collar, shoved him onto the hood of the limo and punched him twice in the chest.
As he struggled to get away from the man, passersby intervened and the couple fled, Aslam said.
Adam Soltani, executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said before a Wednesday morning new conference that he is concerned that the Oklahoma City police are not taking the case seriously.
“We feel like the police are not moving as swiftly as we would like,” he said, noting that the limousine company is cooperating, and the police have the identity of the alleged attacker.
Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow, public information officer in the Oklahoma City Police Department said, “It’s been assigned to an assault unit and we’re working on it.”
She provided a police report of the incident with the name of the alleged attacker redacted.
Aslam, 58, who has had heart bypass surgery, said he has had digestive problems since the attack.
He came to the United States in 2000, and to Oklahoma City in 2012. He is a U.S. citizen.