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IllustrationPolice Spokesperson

An indictment was filed Sunday in a Tel Aviv district court against Shai Portal, a traffic cop in Tel Aviv accused of causing serious harm to a civilian with no justification.

According to the indictment, the defendant was on duty on Nahalat Binyamin in Tel Aviv early one morning recently in part of the police department’s ongoing efforts against drunk driving.

At roughly 5:40 a.m. on the day of the incident, the commander officer ordered a driver passing by to pull over for inspection to see if there were signs he was under the influence of alcohol.

No evidence was found during the police checks that the man was under the influence of alcohol or any other inebriant.

After the inspection, an argument erupted between the driver and his friend on the one hand, and the female officer in charge of the operation on the other, with the driver and his friend demanding the driver’s license be returned.

Portal noticed the two arguing with the commanding officer and joined in the tussle, with the confrontation becoming increasingly heated. Portal and the driver exchanged curses, and Portal eventually arrested the driver, on the grounds that he had [verbally] attacked and threatened officers.

The driver was handcuffed and placed in Portal’s police cruiser. Inside the car, Portal lifted up a box and smashed the man in the face repeatedly with it causing contusions across his face.