Caregiver caught on video attacking Parkinson's patient, but released from detention
A caregiver from Ramat Gan was arrested on suspicion of attacking a 68-year-old helpless patient after footage of the incident reached the police. Despite the demand to extend his detention, the court ordered his release under restrictive conditions, including a 15-day restraining order from the victim. It was also noted that the assault was not of a high threshold.
An unusual video recording that reached the police led to the arrest of a 35-year-old foreign caregiver from Ramat Gan on suspicion of using violence against a 68-year-old Parkinson's patient whom he had been caring for for about two years.
Although the police requested to extend his detention by five days, claiming that this was a recurring pattern, the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court ordered his release from custody.
During the hearing to extend the detention, the police representative, Sergeant Major Yitzhak Hartov, claimed that the existing material indicates that this is not a single incident of violence. On the other hand, the suspect's defense attorney from the Public Defender's Office, Adv. Yonatan Sherman, emphasized that this is a person with no criminal record who has been caring for the patient devotedly for two years without any prior complaints. The defense attorney noted that the strength of the suspicion is low, and that so far no testimony has been taken from the patient himself.
Judge Christina Hilu-Assad determined that while the video and investigation material establish a reasonable suspicion, she clarified that at this stage no evidence of causing injury was found and the suspicion is limited to an assault that is not of a high threshold. Consequently, the judge determined that his dangerousness could be neutralized through an alternative to detention and a restraining order, and ordered his release subject to a no-contact order and a restraining order from the victim's home for 15 days. At the request of the police, the execution of the release was stayed until tomorrow at noon to consider filing an appeal.
