Three suspects allegedly caught stealing copper coils worth approximately €100,000 from a logistics center in Atarot were released from a Jerusalem police station along with the pickup truck they were driving and the suspected stolen coils.
The three were rearrested the following, but by then, the copper coils had disappeared, Channel 16 reported.
According to the report, Border Police officers caught the suspects over the weekend loading copper coils onto a pickup truck after allegedly breaking into a logistics center in Atarot. The coils were reportedly intended for use in a light rail project.
The officers brought the three suspects, along with the truck and the copper coils, to the Shafat police station in Jerusalem.
Liran Levy, Channel 16's crime correspondent, reported that no duty investigator was present at the station at the time. According to the report, the investigations officer was briefed by phone and ordered the suspects released. The pickup truck and copper coils were released with them.
The following day, police operating in Judea and Samaria rearrested all three suspects. However, the copper coils, valued at approximately €100,000, could no longer be found.
Police confirmed most of the details but disputed the claim that no duty investigator was present at the station. According to police, an investigator was at the station and the suspects were questioned before being released.
Police did not explain, however, why the suspects were released together with the pickup truck and the copper coils suspected of being stolen.