Excerpt:
A leader at a West Philadelphia mosque was arrested for allegedly trying to chop off the hand of a member accused of stealing money from prayer jars, police said Friday.
Merv Mitchell, 37, was arrested Thursday night when police executed a search warrant at Masjid Ar-Razaqq Ul-Karim in the 1100 block of North 63d Street, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives.
The attack happened after a prayer service Monday morning. Mitchell, also known as Mabul Shoatz, accused the 46-year-old mosque member of the theft.