The man at the center of a terror investigation in the city and in Denver, Colorado was arrested Saturday night on charges he lied to federal investigators.

Najibullah Zazi, 24, and his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, were arrested by federal agents late Saturday at their suburban Denver homes.

A third man, Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, of Flushing, was also arrested.

The Justice Department says all three are charged with making false statements to federal agents in an ongoing terror investigation.

The three men are all expected to appear in federal court Monday, and each faces eight years behind bars if convicted.

The arrests came hours after Najibullah Zazi canceled a fourth meeting with the FBI to talk with his lawyer instead.

Authorities say Zazi rented a car and drove from Denver to New York, arriving in the city on September 10th.

According to federal affidavits, investigators say a September 11th search of Zazi’s rental car in New York turned up a laptop computer that contained an image of notes which included instructions about building explosives.

But the documents say when confronted with the notes, Zazi told agents he didn’t write them.

Law enforcement officials tell ABC News a computer belonging to Zazi showed he had researched baseball and football stadiums along with some sites being used for Fashion Week.

ABC also says text messages were sent indicating a plot was nearing the attack phase.

Reports say Zazi had cell phone video of Grand Central Terminal, but a federal official warns there is no specific terror threat or target.

Officials raided three homes in the Queens neighborhood where Zazi had been staying — one of them belonging to Naiz Kahn, who doesn’t believe he is linked to a terror group.

“I don’t think so but I know him if somebody comes to mosque, you know our culture, people come to mosque and you talk to them: hi, how are you? And you don’t know what he’s up to,” Kahn said.

Zazi’s defense team has repeatedly dismissed reports that indicated he is directly linked with al-Qaida.

(Source: NY1)