Ahuvya Sandak
Ahuvya SandakCourtesy of the family

An expert opinion submitted in the investigation into the death of 16-year-old Ahuvya Sandak found that the car carrying Sandak flipped over as a result of being rammed by the police vehicle which was pursuing it – contradicting testimony by the officers involved in the incident.

Attorney David Ben-Zaken, who served in the Israeli police department for decades as a traffic examiner as well as a prosecutor in the traffic division, found that the car carrying a group of Israeli teens from the “hilltop youth” community flipped over twice as a result of being struck by the vehicle driven by detectives who were pursuing the teens.

As a result of the collision, an accident ensued resulting in Sandak’s death.

Ben-Zaken, whose opinion was solicited by Sandak’s family, found that it is unlikely that the teens’ car swerved to the left, as police officers have claimed, without leaving brake marks.

If the car flipped over due to the collision, however, no brake marks would be visible, Ben-Zaken wrote.

The undercover officers involved in the incident admitted to investigators that their vehicle did collide with the teens’ car, but claimed that the collision was a result of the teens’ car suddenly swerving to the left, hitting the officers’ car as they attempted to pass the teens’ car.

Attorney Mensahe Yado, a member of the Honenu organization who is representing Sandak’s family, has submitted the findings to the police department’s internal investigations division.