Family of boy killed in hit-and-run to be shown pic confirming driver’s identity
Authorities say evidence shows accident was unavoidable, and only 70-year-old Carol Fessler, not daughter, was present in vehicle
Prosecutors plan to show footage to the family of an Ethiopian-Israeli boy killed in a hit-and-run they say confirms the identity of the driver, Hebrew media reported Thursday evening, as some in the Ethiopian community protested against the authorities, alleging racism.
Rafael Adana, aged 4, was hit by a car while walking with his grandfather in Netanya on May 6. He was critically injured and died in a hospital several days later.
TV networks reported Thursday that investigators have collected footage from 11 cameras that show the vehicle before and after the incident, as well as witness testimony that authorities say proves only 70-year-old Carol Fessler was in the car. Some have claimed that Dr. Heidi Fessler, Carol’s daughter, was also in the vehicle at the time.
Channel 12 reported that an eyewitness saw Adana take about a step onto the road from the sidewalk without a pedestrian crossing when he was hit.
A senior police official told the network that “at the time, no driver could have stopped and prevented the injury. Therefore, the driver had no chance to swerve her car.”
Fessler fled the scene, later claiming she “didn’t feel” the vehicle striking anything. She turned herself into police several hours later and provided testimony about the collision, Channel 12 reported. She was released to house arrest.
Prosecutors have said that evidence collected proves the accident was unavoidable, and that Fessler will be tried for negligence, and not for causing death. Furthermore, an indictment has yet to be filed in the case, leading activists in the Ethiopian community to accuse the police and prosecutors of leniency and mishandling of the case.
They demand that a harsh indictment be filed in the case against Fessler.
The evidence of the case will be presented to Adana’s family by prosecutors on Sunday, reports said. Investigators have said there was no footage available of the incident itself.
Protests against law enforcement’s handling of the case in Tel Aviv Wednesday night turned violent, with police saying an officer was stabbed and 10 people were arrested.
Police said the protesters attacked officers when they began dispersing them from the Ayalon Highway using stun grenades and water cannons. The “rioters resisted with force and threw objects” at officers, police said.
The Adana family said in a statement, “We’re asking our brothers, sisters and friends to show restraint. There is great pain, but we don’t want an escalation, but solutions and justice for Rafael.”
“The last thing that we want or need is for them to portray our whole community as violent and problematic. Don’t let them take an entire community to the places that they want,” the family said.
Police said they were searching for the suspect who stabbed the officer and fled the scene. “We take the incident very seriously and will act with zero tolerance toward the harming of police officers acting within the law to enforce public order and the security of the demonstrators,” police said in a statement.
Another three officers were injured, police said, when some protesters threw stones and other objects at officers. At least 10 people were arrested during the protest for “throwing stones, attacking police officers, and violating public order.”
The Wednesday protest was the latest in a series of demonstrations over the case.
On Monday morning, dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the state prosecutor’s office in Tel Aviv to protest. They then marched to the Ayalon Highway, blocking traffic, but were quickly dispersed.
The activists said they intend to continue protesting until the driver is indicted.
“If his name was Rafael Heshin or Rafael Rubinstein, there probably would have been an indictment already,” the boy’s father told the crowd, implying the family was being discriminated against.
Or Yarok, a traffic safety organization, said, “There should be no forgiveness for a hit-and-run. The State of Israel must declare war on drivers who hit someone and flee the scene without providing help.”
The Ethiopian community has charged authorities with discriminatory legal treatment in the past.
In 2019, the community held major protests over the fatal shooting of a community member by an off-duty police officer. In 2015, a large demonstration in support of the Ethiopian community against police brutality and racism turned violent, transforming Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square into a massive street brawl.
Community members have also accused successive governments of neglecting an Ethiopian-Israeli man, Avraham Mengistu, who is believed to be held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
