A month ago, in Ramat Gan, an incident occurred that would have been far more typical of a Mafia-run neighborhood in some other problem-ridden city. Four men entered a restaurant on one of Ramat Gan’s main streets and approached one of the diners, a Ramat Gan resident, and began to curse him and threaten him. They eventually coerced the man into leaving the restaurant and, once outside, began to violently attack him, in full view of passers-by.
Channel 12 relates that at some point, the four attempted to force the man into their vehicle, first into the trunk and then into the backseat. The struggle was captured on security cameras, with footage showing the four trying to push the man into the vehicle and the man struggling to free himself. Eventually, he did manage to escape his tormentors, evidently people he has previously been in dispute with, and left the scene.
Now police have succeeded in arresting two people they are accusing of being involved in the attack. One is 51-year-old Doron Zehavi; the other is 20-year-old Yosef Salhov – both reside in Bnei Brak. They have both been indicted and charged with assault and attempted kidnapping. They both deny their involvement in the crime, and are being held in police custody; according to Channel 12, a decision on their continued detention will not be made for another month.
Attorney Kobi Ben Shaya, on behalf of the two detainees, issued a statement saying, “An inept interrogator downloaded the camera footage using software from the internet, and the footage is therefore not permissible evidence in court. There is a big problem with identification in this case, as it was not done in a legal manner.”