Taco Bell workers' 911 call led to arrest in temple plot case
Prosecutors say a 19-year-old Palatine man told coworkers at an Arlington Heights restaurant about targeting the largest Hindu temple in Aurora.
By Leila Mansour ·
Two Taco Bell coworkers of Alexandros Paporakis called 911 after he told them about plans to attack a Hindu temple, and that tip led prosecutors to charge the 19-year-old Palatine man in connection with an alleged mass shooting plot. The Taco Bell they all worked at sits at 2410 E. Rand Rd. in Arlington Heights.
Paporakis worked alongside the two unnamed employees for several months, prosecutors said. During that time he made disparaging comments about people of other races, and particularly about people from India, and openly identified as a white supremacist at work. In the week before the weekend of Oct. 10, prosecutors said, his rhetoric intensified.
On Oct. 10, while at work, Paporakis allegedly told one of the coworkers who later called police that he could not wait to kill Indian people and that he planned to use a lot of ammunition at the largest Hindu temple in Aurora. He allegedly told another coworker that the next day would be a special day.
Around 1:30 p.m. the following day, Paporakis spoke by phone with one of the coworkers who later contacted authorities and said his gun had jammed and he had fled, prosecutors said. During that call he allegedly sent a video showing his automatic rifle failing to fire when the trigger was pulled, along with a photo of himself in a tactical vest. He was also troubleshooting the jam so he could retry the plan, and he sent along an eight-page document titled "Why I fought: A.K.A. (Aurora Shooter's Manifesto)." Prosecutors said the document contained derogatory language, described his hate of non-white people, and laid out how he had studied the temple on Google Streetview and YouTube and planned the attack for two years. After that phone call, the coworker he had spoken with and another coworker called 911.
Slightly more than two hours after the call, Palatine police found Paporakis in a parking lot near his apartment. A search warrant on his unit turned up an automatic rifle with no serial number, a tactical vest, eight loaded magazines, one loaded extended magazine, 300 rounds of rifle ammunition, a gas can, and items showing Nazi symbolism and racist language. The alleged manifesto was also located later.
After the tip, police identified a red Acura registered to Paporakis. Surveillance video showed the car entering the Hindu temple parking lot at 12:25 p.m. and leaving three minutes later. Police said Paporakis then drove to his residence near Rand Road in Palatine, where he lived with his mother.
FBI Chicago Field Office acting special agent in charge Lucas Rothaar spoke about the case at a news conference earlier this month. "The public remains law enforcement's greatest asset in disrupting acts of violence," Rothaar said. "I want to praise and offer my personal, sincerest thanks to the individual who stepped forward in many successful disruptions by law enforcement and potential acts of violence or terrorism attacks. It is a single, courageous member of the public who comes forward to prevent attacks."
Paporakis' indictment is set for Nov. 9.
