Following Walla report: Indictment filed against man who threatened passersby and choked a 66-year-old in Tel Aviv
After Andy Spitzer revealed on Walla how he was attacked during his shift, an indictment was filed: a resident of Kiryat Gat in his 30s is accused of threatening passersby to obtain their phones, using a stick from a bin to assault them, and choking Spitzer until the phone fell from his hands.
An indictment was filed today, Thursday, against a resident of Kiryat Gat in his 30s, who, according to the charges, threatened two passersby in central Tel Aviv while demanding their mobile phones. One of the victims, 66-year-old Andy Spitzer, recounted the moments of terror in a conversation with Walla:
"He came at me with a stick, choked me, and screamed: 'I will murder you'."
The incident occurred on August 29 during the night. According to the investigation, the defendant first approached a passerby on Yehuda HaLevi Street and demanded his mobile phone. When the man refused, the defendant took a stick from a nearby trash bin, pressed it against his neck, and repeated the demand. The passerby managed to push him away.
Immediately afterward, the defendant turned to Spitzer, 66, who was working as a security guard at a building on the same street. According to the indictment, he demanded the phone and threatened to kill him. After Spitzer refused, the defendant hit him in the face with the stick and choked him. During the struggle, the phone fell from his hands, and the defendant took it and walked away. Spitzer sustained an injury to his nose.
In a conversation with Walla after the attack, Spitzer said the incident began when he heard noise outside the building and went out to check. He noticed a man threatening people on the street and chasing them with a metal ashtray. Soon, the violence was directed at him.
Passersby who witnessed the event intervened and detained the defendant. Officers from the Lev Tel Aviv station arrived within minutes and located the defendant near the scene with Spitzer's phone in his possession. He was arrested, and the phone was returned to its owner.
Spitzer, who has worked as a security guard on Yehuda HaLevi Street for years, told Walla that he had never encountered such violence before. He stated that his sense of security has not returned even after the suspect's arrest, noting that he is afraid to return to the same shift and location.
The Tel Aviv District Police prosecution unit has filed an indictment against the defendant for two counts: demanding property by threats and assaulting an elderly person causing actual bodily harm. The police have requested that he be held in custody until the end of the proceedings.
