Four members of the Kurdish Pride Gang are being held in the Metro Jail in lieu of $1,000,000 bond each on charges relating to the attempted murder of a Metro Parks officer last August, as well as an alleged plot to kill two other men.
Ako Hassan Nejad, 22, of Sugarloaf Drive, is charged in a grand jury indictment with attempted 1st degree murder and conspiracy to commit 1st degree murder. His brother, Aso Nejad, 21, of Linbar Drive, Delsosh Ahmed, 22, of Pearson Place, and Nechirvan Yahya, 22, of Nolensville Pike, are all charged with conspiracy to commit 1st degree murder. A fifth suspect, Cedric W. Woods, 23, of Huntingdon, Tennessee, is also charged with conspiracy to commit 1st degree murder. He is not yet in custody.
On August 5, 2006, Metro Parks Officer James Spray was patrolling Edwin Warner Park in West Nashville near closing time when he came across a parked Chevrolet Impala. Spray, in a marked Metro Parks police car, pulled up to the Impala and attempted to speak to the driver, Bushra Hashim Salih, 22. Salih fled in the Impala. As Spray gave chase, shots were fired at his car. Two rounds struck the rear of the police vehicle. Salih crashed into a ditch after traveling a short distance. He ran from the car and was later taken into custody on charges of felony evading arrest and unlawful possession of a handgun in a park. The pistol was found on the floorboard of the Impala. The charges against Salih are presently pending in Criminal Court.
Investigation by Homicide Detective Lee Freeman, with assistance from the police department’s Gang Unit, has determined that most of the suspects were at a wooded area of the park waiting for two other persons to arrive. It is alleged that the suspects were going to kill those two as the result of a drug issue. Detectives believe that when Ako Nejad saw Officer Spray begin pursuing the Impala, which was registered to Ako, he opened fire on the police car from the tree line in the darkness.
At the time of his arrest on the conspiracy indictment, Aso Nejad was free on $50,000 bond on a charge of aggravated assault in connection with the attack on an 18-year-old man after Glencliff High School’s graduation on May 21. A 17-year-old of Kurdish descent was also charged in the attack. The teenager was convicted of aggravated assault in Juvenile Court last week and was sentenced to incarceration until he turns 19.
Ako Nejad was arrested last October 18 on three counts of attempted murder in connection with the wounding of three persons in Whitfield Park in South Nashville. Those charges were dismissed after witnesses failed to come to court.
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