Maryland

Man Tried to Hire Hitman to Threaten Woman, Child in Montgomery County: Documents

The man told an undercover cop to threaten the woman with a gun and kidnap her 7-year-old child if she refused to leave her house, charging documents say

A man tried to tried to pay a hitman $350 to break into a woman's Rockville, Maryland, home and threaten to kill her and a young girl, charging documents say.

Massoud Mokhtari, 63, thought he was meeting with a hitman in the parking lot of Westfield Montgomery mall on Sunday, March 24, but instead "hired" an undercover police detective for the job, according to the documents filed in Montgomery County.

Mokhtari allegedly told the undercover officer during their meeting to go to a home on Gravenhurst Court at 7:45 a.m. the next day and force his way inside.

Charging documents say Mokhtari told the officer a 7-year-old girl would also be there. He told the officer to point a gun at the both of them and tell the woman that if she did not vacate the residence, he would shoot the girl before shooting her, the documents say.

Police said Mokhtari told the undercover cop to grab the girl and put the gun to her head while threatening to shoot her in front of the woman.

He also allegedly told the officer to tell the woman he would take the girl until she vacates the residence and that if she didn't leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday, the girl would be "gone."

The girl’s father, who says he’s in a custody battle with her mother, his ex-wife, told News4 he was horrified to learn about Mokhtari’s plot. He believes Mokhtari’s motive was to intimidate the girl’s mother, who had since broken up with him and was seeing someone else.

Mokhtari faces multiple charges including soliciting an undercover officer to kidnap a child, soliciting an officer for first-degree assault and soliciting an officer to break and enter.

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