The Northern District Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against a 40-year-old resident of Umm al-Fahm, who is accused of striking a reservist soldier riding a motorcycle on Highway 6 with his vehicle, causing his death, abandoning him at the scene, setting his own vehicle on fire, and later falsely reporting to police that the vehicle had been stolen.
According to the indictment, the accident occurred in the early morning hours of June 12 on Highway 6, near Yokneam. Police received reports of a motorcyclist found critically injured and a vehicle that had caught fire approximately 200 meters from the crash site.
Shortly afterward, a call was received by the emergency 100 police hotline from the owner of the burning vehicle, who claimed that his car had been stolen and had fled toward Yokneam. At the same time, emergency responders arrived at the accident scene but were forced to pronounce the death of the motorcycle rider, First Sergeant (res.) Adisso Wube, of blessed memory, who was on his way home in southern Israel after active reserve duty in the north.
During the initial investigation, traffic investigators collected testimony from drivers who identified a person setting fire to the vehicle involved in the accident. Based on the findings, suspicion arose that the vehicle owner himself had been involved in the crash and that the report of the vehicle theft was false. Police from the Northern District subsequently arrested the suspect.
During several weeks of investigation, traffic investigators gathered evidence indicating that the defendant was involved in the accident and in abandoning the victim. The investigation further revealed that, according to suspicions, he had been driving at a speed of approximately 132 kilometers per hour.
At the conclusion of the investigation, the Northern District Prosecutor’s Office, through attorney Rajed Shadafna, filed an indictment and requested that the defendant remain in custody until the conclusion of legal proceedings.
The indictment attributes to him offenses including leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury, causing death by negligence, destruction of evidence, obstruction of justice, providing false information, reckless and negligent conduct, and driving at a speed exceeding the legal limit.
The Israel Police stated that they view "hit-and-run" offenses with great severity and emphasized that they will continue to act decisively against drivers who abandon victims at accident scenes, in order to protect public safety and enforce the law.