An indictment was filed on Monday morning against Muhammmed Safaren for planning to carry out a ramming attack against IDF soldiers.
Safaren is a 40-year-old resident of the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah.
The indictment charged Safaren with planning to murder IDF soldiers as part of a terror attack, endangering others' lives on a public road, auto theft, entering and remaining in Israel illegally, driving without a license, and other crimes.
According to the indictment, Safaren planned to use a truck to run over soldiers waiting at a bus stop near an army base in central Israel.
Arriving in Holon on October 19, Safaren armed himself with a pipe wrench. Noticing a locked truck belonging to a local business, Safaren broke its lock and began traveling towards the IDF base, where he planned to carry out his attack.
The truck's owner heard the vehicle's engine and began running towards it. Noticing him, Safaren turned towards the owner and almost hit him, then continued driving towards the base. The owner called the police to report the vehicle stolen, and a nearby squad car immediately began pursuing the thief.
Safaren noticed the officers and attempted to escape by driving at breakneck speed and zigzagging, despite the heavy traffic. As the policemen neared, they ordered him to stop. Safaren, however, rammed the police car, pushing it onto the dividing line and forcing it to break off pursuit. He then continued driving at breakneck speed, ignoring a red light and nearly crashing into other vehicles.
At one point, Safaren was forced to stop because of mechanical failure in the truck he was driving. He was then arrested by the police.