Refael Adana
Refael AdanaCourtesy of the family

The State Prosecutor in Israel's Central District has presented a traffic court with an indictment against Carol Fassler, an 80-year-old woman from Netanya, for leaving the scene of the accident in which Refael Adana, age 4, was struck and killed.

The prosecution also requested that the court cancel her driver's license until the completion of legal proceedings against her.

According to the indictment, on May 6th, the accused was driving on Ben Gurion Boulevard in Netanya when Tamir Tzagai and his grandchildren, one of whom was Refael, crossed the street without a crosswalk.

The three three reached an island in the middle of the street. At the moment they stepped off the island, the accused struck Refael as well asTamir's hand. The accused continued driving without stopping to take responsibility for the accident, and without contacting emergency services.

As a result of the accident, Refael was critically injured and later declared dead in hospital. His grandfather suffered a broken hand.

Several months ago Refael's family met with representatives of the prosecution after they claimed that justice was not being done in their case.

During the course of the meeting, representatives of the prosecution presented the family with security camera footage that shows the accused's car before and after the collision. The collision itself was not recorded do to a technical failure in the camera positioned to record the area of the accident.

The family claims that the car contained both the accused and her daughter, the dentist Heidi Fassler, but the prosecution has in its possession photos showing Carol as the sole occupant and driver.

"We left the meeting with serious concerns that the prosecution is not concerned with the truth in our case," the family said.

"Materials from the investigation have more holes in them than Swiss cheese and additional investigative action is required. It seems that there is no one in the prosecution righteous enough to do this, protests are beginning to play their part. The protests will continue until the truth comes out."

The prosecution stated: "During the meeting that was held today, the family presented the prosecution with two points that it requested be investigated in detail, and the prosecution stated that the investigation would be conducted by the police. The investigation has not yet been concluded. The decision to issue an indictment pending a hearing remains unchanged."

The Ethiopian community of which Refael was a part, ahd denounced the proceedings as being racially biased, and large-scale, violent protests were held demanding a more thorough investigation.