Arad man found guilty of reckless homicide in shooting of car thief
Aryeh Schiff, 70, claims he was aiming weapon at wheels of vehicle, didn’t intend to hit 36-year-old Mahmoud Al-Atrash during 2020 incident; likely to get no jail time
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A man from the southern city of Arad was found guilty on Monday of reckless homicide for shooting and killing another man who was trying to steal his car in November 2020.
Aryeh Schiff, 70, was convicted by the Beersheba District Court as part of a plea deal in which he was not yet sentenced but appears likely to receive only community service.
According to the indictment, the incident occurred when 36-year old Mahmoud Al-Atrash broke into a vehicle parked near the trailer where Schiff was sleeping in order to steal it. Upon hearing the break-in, Schiff got out of the trailer and shot at the vehicle with Al-Atrash inside, prosecutors said.
Al-Atrash was taken to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, where medical staff pronounced his death.
Schiff told police that he had not aimed his weapon at the suspected burglar and did not mean to harm him.
“I fired at the wheels. I did not intend to hit him,” he told police investigators at the time.
יוצא מהקראוון, קורא לחשוד לעצור ויורה. הותר לפרסום: כך נראה הירי של אריה שיף לעבר מוחמד אלעטרש שניסה לגנוב את רכבו. pic.twitter.com/qwph9UEsFf
— almog boker (@bokeralmog) January 14, 2021
Footage from the incident, however, appeared to show Schiff firing directly at the suspect.
Schiff’s lawyers said Monday that he “thought that what was right was to protect himself and his sleeping wife. He fired at the burglar because he thought it was necessary. Objectively, he was wrong.”
The Times of Israel Community.