Three residents ages 19 to 26 of the Bedouin town of Lakia in southern Israel were arrested Friday night after attacking and trying to kidnap a young woman from Kiryat Malachi, a Jewish town 17 kilometers from Ashkelon. The three Bedouins broke through a police barrier when they tried to escape from the area.
Their interrogation revealed that the three arrived at the residential building where the young woman lived, and one of them, who had a prior acquaintance with her, tried to force her into their car. When the young woman resisted, the three began to run away, and while fleeing, they attacked a passerby and took away his cell phone.
Police arrived following a report of shouting and violence near the young woman’s building. They saw the suspects fleeing in a car and began chasing them. During the chase, the suspects broke through a police barrier.
At another barrier that was placed in their path southward shots were fired at them and the three Bedouins got out of their vehicle and were caught at the end of a foot chase near the Pura preserve. The suspects’ vehicle was impounded for further investigation, and they were brought before the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court on Saturday night with a request for a remand until the end of the investigation.
Kiryat Malachi station commander, Chief Superintendent Mevorach Avraham, said, “This was a series of the most serious crimes, including attempted kidnapping, robbery and endangering human life, which ended without casualties due to the quick response of the police officers, who, in professional cooperation between the police stations, resolutely strived to make contact with the suspects until they were able to lay hands on them and arrest them.”
