Break-ins, taxi driver robbery and threats at the police station: the crime spree in Tel Aviv
An indictment was filed against a Tel Aviv resident who, according to the prosecution, forced a taxi driver to drive him for about two hours under threat and eventually robbed him of money and a phone. He is also accused of breaking into apartments and stealing property, and in one case, threatening the apartment owner.
For about two hours, as alleged in the indictment, a taxi driver in Tel Aviv was forced to drive Muhammad Katani, 43, from Tel Aviv, according to his demands, while he repeatedly displayed a pistol or an object appearing to be a pistol. At the end of the ride, according to the prosecution, he pulled out the object, demanded the driver's money, and exited the taxi with 1,000 shekels and his mobile phone.
According to the indictment filed at the Tel Aviv District Court, the taxi driver was passing by a parking lot on Gedera Street in Tel Aviv. Another person who was at the scene asked him to stop for Katani, who got into the passenger seat and asked to drive towards Jaffa. According to the indictment, during the ride, Katani lifted his shirt and showed the driver that he was carrying a pistol or an object appearing to be a pistol on his body, with the aim of threatening him and causing him to obey his instructions.
At a certain point, he ordered him to drive to Shvil HaMaratz Street. The driver was afraid to enter the street and initially refused, but according to the charge, Katani lifted his shirt again, exposed the pistol, and demanded that he continue driving. After they entered the street, the defendant asked the driver if he had any money.
When he replied in the negative, it is alleged, the defendant pulled out the pistol, threatened him, and demanded to receive all the money in his possession. The driver, who feared him, handed him 1,000 shekels in cash. Later, Katani demanded to use the driver's mobile phone. After receiving it, he refused to return it and exited the taxi with the money and the phone, without paying for the ride. Regarding this event, he is charged with the crime of robbery.
However, according to the indictment, the event in the taxi was not the only case. Before that, Katani broke into a one-room apartment in Tel Aviv while the complainant was sleeping. According to the prosecution, he equipped himself with a broken wooden broomstick and took a Samsung S24 mobile phone and a microphone from the apartment.
When the apartment owner woke up and asked the defendant for his identity, it is alleged that Katani raised the stick above his head, shouted, and threatened with it until he left the apartment with the property. The prosecution claims that by doing so, he stole the property while threatening violence to prevent the complainant from resisting the theft. Regarding this case, he is charged with robbery and breaking into a residence with the intent to commit a theft or a crime.
The third charge refers to an event that took place at a small hotel on Shlomo Street in Tel Aviv. According to the indictment, a guest at the hotel was in the shower and left a wallet, a mobile phone, a credit card, 150 shekels in cash, an ID card, and a health fund booklet on the bed in the room. Katani, it is alleged, arrived at the hotel courtyard and tried to open the room door, which was locked.
After that, according to the charge, he approached the window, looked inside, and noticed the property on the bed. The prosecution claims that he climbed the room wall, leaned on the window, inserted his upper body inside, and took the property. Regarding this case, he is charged with the crimes of entering a residence with the intent to commit a theft or a crime and theft.
After his arrest, a confrontation was held at the police station between Katani and the taxi driver. According to the indictment, after the driver told the investigator about the use of the pistol during the alleged robbery, the defendant began to curse his family and spat at the driver. The curses continued throughout the confrontation, and when he left the interrogation room, Katani shouted at the complainant and threatened him: "I will fuck your mother, I will fuck your whore sister."
By his actions, it is alleged, he tried to cause the complainant to retract the version he gave during the investigation through threats and intimidation and also attacked him. Regarding this event, he is charged with tampering with an investigation and assault.
