Suspicion: 16-year-old student hits policewoman during unlicensed 'joyride'

A 16-year-old, a 10th-grade student, took a girl and a boy for a 'joyride' on the roads of Tiberias. Panicked by a random police checkpoint, he attempted to flee, hit a vehicle, and subsequently struck a policewoman. The police will request an extension of his detention at the Magistrate's Court in Nazareth.

"During the night, officers from the Northern District were securing road works in Tiberias. They set up a checkpoint, and a vehicle appeared, which they signaled to stop. The driver identified the officers and tried to escape by reversing, colliding with a parked vehicle. He then continued forward, hit a policewoman, and fled the scene. An officer fired towards the vehicle fearing a terrorist incident," explained Captain Raz Lalush, head of the Tiberias police investigation office.

Patrols began searching for the vehicle and soon located it. The officers found a teenager, a resident of a northern settlement, who is suspected of driving. During interrogation, he stated that two other teenagers were with him in the car.

"This is a serious incident that could have ended in a disaster for both the police officers and the teenager. We understand the teenager took his parents' vehicle without having a driver's license. His parents were unaware and did not give permission, and he went out for a joyride that only by a miracle did not end in a tragedy," concluded Lalush.

The policewoman was evacuated in light condition to the Poriya Medical Center in Tiberias, and the teenager was interrogated at the local station.

Advocate Ofer Sabo, representing the teenager on behalf of the Public Defender's Office, stated: "This is a case of youthful mischief by a high school student who has his whole future ahead of him. It is appropriate to handle the incident on a therapeutic level rather than a punitive one; it is a pity to harm the future of a minor."