Father arrested after 5-year-old found walking alone in Jerusalem cold
Boy turned over to grandmother after spotted by social worker in Mea Shearim; group, including father, scuffles with police to keep child from being taken
A half-clothed 5-year-old boy was found wandering a Jerusalem street alone on Monday afternoon, police said.
The boy’s father is suspected of negligence and neglect. He and two others were arrested after trying to stop police from taking the child for a welfare check.
A social worker called police after spotting the boy walking near the ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood alone with signs of physical abuse, according to a police statement.
Officials later said that red marks on the child’s body were likely an allergic reaction to the cold air on his exposed limbs. Temperatures in Jerusalem topped out at 7º C (44º F) Monday, accompanied by rain and strong winds.
During the incident, a crowd of ultra-Orthodox men — which included the child’s father — surrounded the officers and Magen David Adom paramedics and attempted to prevent them from taking the boy away, police said.
Video of the incident shows a crowd chasing the police officers as they carry the child to a police car. The father and two others were arrested in the scuffle and charged with attacking officers.
בשעה האחרונה התקבל דיווח במשטרה על ילד כבן 5 שנראה מסתובב ברחוב במרכז ירושלים כשהוא ערום בפלג גופו התחתון.
שוטרי תחנת לב הבירה שהגיעו למקום יחד עם צוות מד"א, איתרו את הילד כשעל גופו סימני אלימות. במהלך בדיקה רפואית של מדא החלו מתאספים אנשים סביב השוטרים בהם משפחתו של הילד שניסו pic.twitter.com/QFqazl7mys
— Haim Goldich | חיים גולדיטש (@HGoldich) December 20, 2021
Police said that the child was brought to a local police station with his grandmother to undergo a medical check, and that warm clothes had been purchased for the child. Welfare authorities in the city were also contacted about the case.
Officials later said that the boy was released into the care of his grandmother.
The Times of Israel Community.