From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Court orders soccer coach to remain in jail over ramming protesters, says car worked fine
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A man accused of ramming his car into anti-government protesters blocking a road Saturday night has been ordered to remain behind bars for several more days, with a judge rebuffing his defense that his vehicle had malfunctioned.
Five protesters suffered non-life-threatening injuries when soccer coach Haim Sirotkin’s sedan plowed through them on Begin Road in Tel Aviv. Sirotkin has claimed he did not mean to hurt anyone and that his accelerator got stuck.
Tel Aviv District Court Judge Yaron Levy accepts police testimony that no issue was found with his vehicle, overturning a Magistrate’s Court decision from a day ago to release him to house arrest.
תיעוד דריסת המפגינים בתל אביב. 5 נפגעו. הנהג נעצר לאחר שברח מהמקום
צילום: איתי רזיאל pic.twitter.com/t8Lc54tbfZ
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) April 6, 2024
“Sirotkin’s behavior shows a deep disregard for human life and his dangerousness. It’s a miracle there was not more harm to human life,” Levy says in his decision, according to Hebrew media reports.
Sirotkin is ordered to remain in custody until Friday at least, Haaretz reports.
The Times of Israel Community.