A childhood friend of the man suspected of carrying out the bombings in New Jersey and New York over the weekend said he changed his demeanor and began wearing traditional Muslim garb after a trip to Afghanistan.
During an interview with Fox News' Shepard Smith, Flee Jones spoke about his relationship with Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was arrested Monday in Linden, N.J., after a gun battle with police.
"When I saw him for the first time [after the trip] two years ago, he looked totally different," Jones said.
"He was more quiet and didn't talk as much."
Jones said Rahami never talked about the Middle Eastern trip with him, but Rahami looked like a different person upon returning.
"He was more into dressing for his religion, and from back then he dressed like a normal person, like regular," Jones said.
When Smith followed up and asked if Rahami wore "the robes and more traditional Muslim garb," Jones confirmed that was the case.
Jones also talked about the fried chicken restaurant Rahami's family owned in Elizabeth, N.J.
"They [were] nice, helpful people," Jones said. "They never gave me or my friends or family members any problem when we go there. Say we didn't have money for food, they'd let us get food off credit and never ask for money back or pay them back. They [were] before Good Samaritan people. They [were] real nice."
Rahami, according to the New York Daily News, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan.