The Hadera Magistrate’s Court on Thursday ordered the release to house arrest of Mahmoud Samahat, 21, of Kafr Manda, who is suspected of fatally striking teenager Amichai Attia in Hadera before Yom Kippur.
Under the court’s decision, Samahat will remain under house arrest until October 1.
Judge Ehud Kaplan addressed the circumstances that led to the fatal incident and ruled that the investigative materials indicate that Samahat had been attempting to escape from people who were pursuing him and that he did not intentionally run anyone over.
“The suspect did not deny causing the deceased’s death, and he claims that he was fleeing from the crowd that was chasing him and wanted to lynch him. He did not realize that he had run someone over, and therefore he cannot be accused of abandoning the victim. It is clear from the investigative materials that he did not intentionally run anyone over," the judge ruled.
“At most, this amounts to negligence, and even that is not at a high level - because there is no doubt that he was fleeing from people who were trying to harm him," he added.
Judge Kaplan also addressed responsibility for the incident, stating: “In fact, it is quite clear that those responsible for the tragic outcome are the people who chased him, not him, even if he bears some responsibility in the matter, something that will be clarified later."
Attia, 17, of Itamar and a 12th-grade student at the Hitzim Yeshiva, was fatally struck at the Village shopping complex in Hadera after attending a Selichot event with his friends.
Attia had traveled to Hadera with fellow students for a Selichot event organized by the Olga Yeshiva in cooperation with the Hadera Municipality. According to his friends, the pickup truck driver was traveling at high speed when he struck him.
Magen David Adom teams provided Atiya with medical treatment and performed prolonged resuscitation efforts. He was evacuated to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center while resuscitation efforts continued, but doctors at the hospital were forced to pronounce him dead.
Following the incident, police presented the initial findings of their investigation, according to which the incident began with a confrontation between the driver and several teenagers. During the incident, Atiya was struck, and shots were subsequently fired at the driver as he fled. The driver was lightly wounded by the gunfire and evacuated for medical treatment.
Footage released from the moments preceding the fatal incident shows hundreds of teenagers attending the Selichot event in the parking lot of the complex. The pickup truck driver had been unloading merchandise at the site, and teenagers were later seen confronting him.
The footage shows the driver beginning to flee the scene in reverse as several teenagers chase after him. During his escape, he struck Amichai. Amichai’s friends stressed that he himself had not been involved in the confrontation that preceded the incident.
Amichai Atiya was the son of Sagit and Yona Atiya. He is survived by five brothers and sisters, including a twin brother.
He was laid to rest on the eve of Yom Kippur at the cemetery in his community.