KETTERING — A man was arrested at a Kettering City Schools open field soccer practice Tuesday night.
This comes after a 25-year-old man allegedly attempted to enroll himself into Kettering City Schools and was denied.
Ali Abu was arrested at Fairmont High School around 5:30 p.m. during an open field soccer practice, and according to the district, this wasn’t the first time he showed up.
Kari Basson, a public relations coordinator for Kettering City Schools, told News Center 7 Abu had attended six of the open field practices.
The school sent a letter to soccer families to explain what happened since the arrest took place at the soccer field.
In the letter, the district said a man came into the Kettering Schools Central Enrollment Office on Friday, July 14, and tried to enroll as a student at Fairmont High School for the 2023-24 school year.
“Our Central Enrollment staff was not comfortable with the fact that the individual was attempting to self-enroll (without a parent/guardian present) that his documentation appeared to be suspicious and that he was not able to answer the typical questions that are asked when a new student is being enrolled,” the district said in the letter.
The district later contacted the Kettering Police Department.
Abu was arrested Tuesday night on multiple warrants from several area jurisdictions accusing him of theft, receiving stolen property, tampering with evidence and traffic offenses. He was taken to the Greene County Jail.
Kettering police were not able to confirm that the man arrested at Trent Arena was the same man who tried to enroll in the school, but they are looking into something of that nature.
News Center 7 is looking into what prompted the arrest, if Abu is the same man who tried to enroll in the school, and why only soccer families were notified.
We will continue updating this story as we learn more.