The alertness of a Jerusalem citizen apparently averted a serious tragedy in the heart of the Me\'ah She\'arim neighborhood. Upon noticing an illegally parked car close to Shabbat Square, he alerted police, whose check of the license plate ascertained that the car was stolen. Other officials who arrived on the scene saw a cellular phone inside the car with ‘strange wires’ protruding from it, and immediately began treating the car as a suspected car bomb. The police distanced passersby and evacuated nearby apartments, while bomb squad personnel began \"working\" on the car. With traffic blocked up for blocks all around, and under the pressure of the unknown, they managed, on their second attempt, to open the trunk with a controlled explosion. Inside they found a large explosive device, which they safely dismantled. Jerusalem Police Commissioner Mickey Levy acknowledged that the busy street had been saved from a major tragedy.