INFORMATION WANTED - July

Last week a portion of Burlingame was taped off as part of a "crime scene" and the police are asking for information about the case or suspect Teyseer (Terry) Zaid Najdawi's whereabouts. Please call Millbrae police inspectors Lou Landini or John Hennessey at 259-2300.

Murder suspect named (by Dana Yates, Daily Journal) A 25-year-old Burlingame man is wanted for murdering his friend in a dual-city mystery that links an early morning Millbrae shooting to the discovery of a dead body two days later in Burlingame. An arrest warrant was issued for Teyseer Terry? Zaid Najdawi for the murder of Jack Chu, 27, of Millbrae. Chu was found slumped in a car in a Burlingame neighborhood north of Broadway Thursday morning. Police quickly connected the car in which Chu was found with a early morning shooting reported Tuesday in Millbrae. Najdawi and Chu were friends and together Tuesday morning. However, the motive for the murder is unknown, said Millbrae police Cmdr. Gary Missel. That is mystery number one, these guys knew each other well,? Missel said. Police served a searched warrant on a residence at 1224 Bellevue Ave. in Burlingame Thursday afternoon. Evidence, including a late model Volvo 240 DL, was seized but Najdawi was not located. Najdawi has ties to Reno, Nev., where he has a criminal history as recent as early this year, according to court records. His criminal record is not extensive? and nothing compared to murder,? Missel said. Najdawi is described as white, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 160 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He is probably in possession of a large caliber handgun and should be considered armed and dangerous, Missel said. As first reported in the Daily Journal Friday, Burlingame police were called to investigate a dead body in white car at the intersection of Chula Vista and Sanchez avenues shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday. They found Chu slumped over in the car, which matched the description of a car seen at a shooting Tuesday morning in Millbrae, according to police. On Wednesday, police were called to investigate an early morning report of a shooting at Lincoln Circle in Millbrae. Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and seeing a person being pushed into a white car. A county-wide broadcast to police was issued to be on the lookout for the vehicle. The car was likely dropped off in the quiet residential neighborhood early Thursday morning.

- Written by Fiona

Comments

[Alex Yu]

By Record Searchlight staff
Originally published 07:44 p.m., July 17, 2008
Updated 07:44 p.m., July 17, 2008

The Redding Police Department's SWAT team today helped Millbrae police arrest a 25-year-old murder suspect at a downtown motel.

Teyseer Zaid Najdawi had been staying at the Redding Inn near downtown and was arrested this evening without incident, Police Lt. Damon Minor said.

Najdawi is suspected of shooting an acquaintance to death on July 8 in Millbrae, a city south of San Francisco.

Millbrae and San Mateo County authorities tracked Najdawi who may have relatives in Trinity County through the north state to Redding before asking local and state Department of Justice authorities to help with an arrest, Minor said.

[Concerned]

Anyone know how the arraignment went? Is this guy in jail. Motive?

Murder suspect pleads not guilty - Najdawi faces 50 years in shooting death (by Christine Morente / Bay Area News Group)

Teyseer Najdawi pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of murder and illegal use of a firearm in the shooting death of Jack Chu of Millbrae.

Najdawi, who is to return to San Mateo County Superior Court on Sept. 11 for the setting of his preliminary hearing, faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted.

Clothes found at the Burlingame home of Najdawi's mother's are still being tested for Chu's blood and for gunshot residue, said Steve Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney for San Mateo County. Results won't be available for another couple of months. Wagstaffe is also waiting for the victim's toxicology reports.

Najdawi, 25, and Chu, 28, were good friends, Wagstaffe said, and had known each other for years. He said the night before Chu died, the two were hanging out in San Francisco. At 2 a.m. on July 8, Millbrae police responded to a report of gunshots at Lincoln Circle.

Two days later, Chu's body was found inside his car, a white Acura Integra, parked near Chula Vista and Sanchez avenues in Burlingame. An autopsy showed that Chu died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Three days later, Millbrae police issued a warrant for Najdawi's arrest. A second warrant was used to search his mother's home on the 1200 block of Bellevue Avenue in Burlingame.

Clothes that police believe Najdawi wore the night Chu was killed were collected. Najdawi, who is unemployed, often split his time between his mother's home and Reno, where he was arrested last year for a weapons charge, according to Millbrae police.

Najdawi was in a hotel in Redding when arrested by a Redding police SWAT team July 17. Detectives are attempting to trace Najdawi's steps from San Francisco - the night before the shooting - to the night in Redding when he was arrested, Wagstaffe said.

Najdawi is being held without bail in San Mateo County jail.

[Guest]

I hope there will be some information about this tomorrow when he goes to court. I really want to know the motive was. This shooting is totally random when they were good friends.