Three suspects in the arson of the car of Beersheba District Court Judge Nasser Abu Ta'a were arrested by the police. The suspects confessed to the crime and explained that they 'wanted to do a powerful event in order to be men.' Their detention has been extended until the end of the proceedings.
Last week, Judge Abu Ta'a's car was set on fire in the Omer settlement, and the initial investigation indicated a group of car burglars. Southern District Commander Superintendent Yoram Halevi assigned the investigation to the Negev Police Department under the command of Senior Lieutenant Colonel Ezra Elishar and instructed to allocate all means and resources available to the organization to solve the case. The district commander defined the incident as extremely important and the first priority for the district to handle.
Following an intensive investigation and the collection of extensive evidence, investigators were able to arrest two of the three suspects suspected of setting the judge's car on fire within 48 hours.
The third suspect, who has been on the run since the incident, was captured on Monday, May 26, 2014. The three suspects are minors living in Tel Sheva. The young men confessed to the act and even reenacted the incident. During their interrogation, two of the suspects said that they set fire to the judge's car because they left fingerprints on the car after breaking into it. The third suspect explained that they decided to set fire to the judge's car in order to be "manly" by being able to carry out a powerful event - like setting fire to a car belonging to a well-known judge.
The judge discusses sensitive cases
The three, who are known to the police for property crimes, are suspected of having previously broken into a car in the Omer settlement, and immediately afterwards broke into the judge's car and stole cash and packs of cigarettes. A few minutes later, they returned to the car with the intention of setting it on fire. The burglars tried to set the car on fire using the gas tank, but after that failed, they set the back seat of the car on fire and fled the scene on foot towards Tel Sheva.
The detention of the three minors was extended by seven days until June 1, 2014, and the Negev District Attorney's Office intends to transfer the materials to the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office for the purpose of filing indictments against the three minor suspects, with a request for detention until the end of the proceedings.
The commander of the Southern District of the police, Superintendent Yoram Halevi, said: "The very possibility that a judge hearing sensitive and complex cases makes decisions to deprive a threatened person of his liberty by setting his vehicle on fire, obliged us to act quickly and efficiently and work around the clock, in order to get our hands on the perpetrators. The arrest of the suspects within 48 hours and the rapid collection of evidence are exceptional and testify to the quality of the unit that is at the forefront of fighting crime in the Southern District Police.".
Police Commissioner General Yohanan Danino praised the officers of the central unit in the Negev region in the Southern District and the officers of the Intelligence Division in the VIP following the resolution of the case, saying: "This is a quick and professional resolution of a serious crime, in a way that establishes the rule of law and achieves the goal, which concerns deterrence by increasing the offender's chances of being caught.".
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