Four charged in beating of TA cleaner

The Tel Aviv District Attorney’s office filed an indictment Tuesday against Daniel Karai, 18, and three minors who attacked and badly beat Hassan Aosrof, a Tel Aviv street cleaner, in late February.

Though the attack was painted as nationalistic by the Aosrof and others, the indictment states that the teens beat him after they thought he stole their bags.

According to the indictment, the four suspects spent the night downing bottles of alcohol at the city’s Frishman beach promenade.

In the morning, they found that their bags and mobile phones had been stolen and asserted that Aosrof, who was on cleaning duty at the site, was the thief.

Karai allegedly began beating Aosrof’s head with a broken glass bottle while the others dealt heavy punches and kicks to the cleaner’s limbs.

The indictment stated that one of the defendants admitted that if he had had a knife at the time, he would have stabbed Aosrof.

A witness at the scene began to shout for help, and the four attackers fled. Aosrof was rushed to Ichilov Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and was hospitalized for 10 days.

Aosrof said the attackers called out “You’re an Arab, you want a state?,” as they beat him.   

The four defendants are being charged with causing serious injury under severe circumstances and the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s office has requested a remand of the suspects.