Cop bites man

The Tel Aviv District Court on Monday convicted a police officer of aggravated assault for biting a man at a party three years ago.

Simon Shalom, 46, and his two partners were summoned to the Tel Aviv suburb of Or Yehuda in July 2010 to investigate repeated noise complaints over a party. While on the scene, an argument broke out between the officers and the partygoers, after which the host’s brother was detained and forcefully shoved into the squad car.

An unknown individual then threw a brick at the police vehicle, breaking the rear windshield. The broken window enraged Shalom who, according to the indictment, started roughing up the young man, strangling him and slapping him on the face. The young man’s cousin saw what was happening and asked Shalom to back down. In response, one of the other officers approached the cousin from behind and held back his arms, while Shalom grabbed thre cousin’s neck and forcefully bit down on his lip, tearing it open.

The cousin was transferred to the hospital and required an operation to mend the wound.

The Magistrate’s Court acquitted the officer, but the Police Investigations Unit appealed to the higher court, which overturned the ruling. The court will pass sentence at a later date.