2 indicted in Jerusalem hit-and-run that left boy critically injured

Driver Natanel Sandrusi accused of fleeing the scene; passenger Meir Gamliel charged with failing to call emergency services

Prosecutors on Monday filed indictments against two men suspected of running over a boy on a Jerusalem crosswalk and then fleeing the scene of the accident without alerting emergency services, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

Indictments were filed at the Jerusalem District Court against Natanel Sandrusi, 22, on charges of abandoning the scene of the accident, and against Meir Gamliel, also 22, for not fulfilling his duty as a passenger to call rescue services.

The April 21 hit-and-run left the 11-year-old in critical condition, his symptoms consistent with brain death.

The accident occurred at a crosswalk on Golda Meir Boulevard, a busy thoroughfare in the northwest of the city that has seen a large number of accidents. The child’s brother was reportedly with him at the time of the crash and was lightly injured.

Meir Gamliel, accused of involvement in a hit-and-run accident in which an 11-year-old boy was severely injured, arriving for a hearing at the Jerusalem District Court, on June 3, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

According to court papers, on the evening of the accident, Sandrusi was speeding along the boulevard with Gamliel in the passenger seat. They reached the intersection of Yitzhak Mirsky Street as the boy, who was crossing against a red light, stepped into the road. Sandrusi hit the boy while he was in the crossing.

The two suspects stopped the car and after inspecting the situation, Gamliel got into the driver’s seat and the two drove off at high speed.

“This, without the accused offering help to the injured person, without calling for help and without appearing before the rescue or interrogation services and presenting themselves as involved in the accident,” the Justice Ministry statement said.

The car was found abandoned hours after the accident in the Givat Ze’ev settlement north of the city.

A police investigation determined that the owner of the vehicle was not a suspect. Sandrusi had received permission to drive the car.

Prosecutors asked that the pair be held until the end of proceedings and noted that only on April 28 — a week after the accident — after many attempts to locate him, including putting his photo in the papers, Sandrusi finally turned himself in at a police station.

Gamliel was located by police on May 6 in an apartment rented by an acquaintance in Givat Shmuel, near Tel Aviv.