Netanya mayor, suspect’s wife and sister call on hit-and-run driver to turn himself in

Nitza Baraby, the pregnant wife of Shushan Baraby, a 35-year-old man suspected of killing three women in a hit-and-run accident in Netanya on Friday, called on her husband Monday to turn himself in.

Police and local authorities on Monday continued the manhunt for Baraby, tapping his family’s phones in an effort to track him down.

Authorities believed Baraby, a known felon who served three prison sentences for various drug and violence-related offenses, was still in the country.

Police sources told Channel 10 it was possible Baraby was staying with friends from the criminal world. They said Baraby was “collecting favors owed to him by fellow felons,” and it was possible he would try to flee the country.

On Sunday evening, Channel 10 reported that the police issued an arrest warrant for Baraby’s wife, who is suspected of assisting him after the incident and obstructing police investigations.

Police sources believe that Baraby picked up his wife after the hit-and-run, and they went into hiding together. The couple’s children, who were with their mother at the time, were sent to a separate secret location.

Nitza Baraby’s lawyer said Monday she did not know his whereabouts, and called on him to turn himself in. In the 39th week of pregnancy, she was hospitalized in Laniado Hospital.

Police also revealed on Sunday that forensic evidence at the scene of the crime indicated that the driver of the car, presumably Baraby, was drunk at the time of the accident.

During an interview on Army Radio, Netanya Mayor Miriam Feirberg, who knows the career criminal personally, called on Baraby to turn himself in. Feirberg said that Baraby had “a good heart,” and “a positive spark.”

“You didn’t mean to hit these people and kill them, but it happened,” Feirberg said. “Come, turn yourself in as soon as possible. You are just making things harder on yourself.”

According to Ynet News, Baraby allegedly threatened Feirberg’s life in the past. Some time after that he received public land slated for urban renewal.

According to the report, Baraby ran a watermelon stand on that piece of land 10 years ago, but the city refused to give him a permit for it and tore down the stand. After threatening Feirberg’s life, he received a permit to use the land to sell watermelons, and in the course of time converted the stand into a small market, lottery point and barbecue joint, despite not having a permit for those businesses.

City Hall officials told the news outlet they were seeking to regain control of the piece of land after the hit-and-run, which occurred nearby.

Yochai Glicksman, 26, who police said was a passenger in the car that hit the pedestrians, was ordered by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court to remain in custody for five days for fear he would disrupt the investigation. Glicksman turned himself into the police shortly after the crash, claiming to be the driver, but later revoked his statement, saying he was sleeping at home at the time of the accident.

Glicksman’s wife told Army Radio that her husband left their bed in the middle of the night and told her he had to help out a friend. She said she heard Baraby speaking to him. The next time she saw him, she said, was in the courtroom during his remand hearing.

Baraby’s sister said on Sunday in a telephone interview with Channel 10 that she has not heard from her brother since the incident, nor does she know his whereabouts. She expressed her deep sympathy and condolences to the family of the victims, and called on Baraby to turn himself in.

Defending her brother’s character, Baraby’s sister said that “he is a very good man…the things he does for people, and for the needy, nobody knows about. He does it all secretly.”

She said that she does not believe that her brother has left the country and that “in the end he will come to his senses and come back.”

The three women who were killed Friday evening were all members of a single family: Alexandra Rubinov, 67, of Netanya, and Svetlana and Shoshana Yegudiev, 56 and 25 respectively, a mother and daughter who were residents of Dimona visiting their relative in Netanya for the weekend. All three victims were buried in their respective hometowns on Sunday afternoon.