North District police chase fugitive inmate, recover stolen Mercedes

On May 28, 2026, Israel Police received a report about a 47-year-old inmate from Yafa who had been released for a three-day holiday furlough but failed to report to the southern location where he was required to appear. Officers in the Northern District, who knew him from a previous arrest four years earlier in a long pursuit that left an innocent civilian injured, began searching areas tied to him, his relatives, and his neighborhood.

On May 31, 2026, police received another report from a used-car lot owner in Kiryat Shmona. A man had come to “buy” a Mercedes worth about NIS 250,000, but while he and an employee were going to transfer payment, he managed to escape with the vehicle. Investigators quickly linked the two incidents and deployed forces around Nazareth and nearby areas based on earlier searches.

Shortly afterward, a Northern District motorcycle unit spotted the stolen car entering the village of Kaabiyye. One officer in the unit recognized the fugitive from the earlier arrest and signaled him to stop. After repeated calls to halt, the driver began driving recklessly, endangering road users, and then crashed into a wall of a house in a residential neighborhood.

Police then chased him on foot and fired warning shots into the air before detaining him. After the investigation was completed, the Nazareth prosecution unit filed an indictment and asked the Nof HaGalil-Nazareth Magistrate’s Court to keep the defendant in custody until the end of proceedings.