An indictment was handed down this morning (Thursday) against Shadi Abu H'it, 19, an Arab from Nazareth, who ran over a policeman last Saturday night and fled the scene.
The indictment includes counts of assault with deadly intent, deliberately endangering human life on a thoroughfare, assaulting a police officer under aggravated circumstances leading to injury, abandonment, and disturbing a policeman in the line of duty.
The facts filed in the indictment show that last Saturday evening a police officer and a police volunteer were performing their license checking activities on the road between the traffic lights near the Dodge Center compound in Upper Nazareth and a roundabout leading to the compound.
At around 23:00, Abu H'it arrived from Nazareth towards the roadblock with three young men with him in the vehicle. The policeman, who was standing on the road and was wearing a police uniform, spotted the car and motioned him to stop using a flashlight as he moved toward the center of the road. Abu H'it spotted the policeman, did not respond to the order to stop, continued driving toward him and sped up, with the policeman all the while continuing motioning him to stop his vehicle.
Abu H'it continued driving toward the policeman, and the policeman, who sensed danger, tried to avoid being hit by the vehicle, but without success. Abu H'it struck the policeman, slamming him with the front of the vehicle and throwing him onto the road.
Abu H'it did not stop and call for help, but continued speeding towards the roundabout. Abu H'it then further increased his speed to evade police pursuit, driving against traffic, endangering the lives of other drivers and causing three vehicles in front of him to quickly veer sideways to avoid a collision with his car. Only 300 meters later Abu H'it came to one more traffic circle, lost control of his vehicle, hit a concrete wall nearby traffic circle and stopped. Abu H'it and the others got out and were arrested as police arrived.
The prosecution asked the court to order the detention of Abu H'it until the end of legal proceedings against him.