Lapid aide’s car is broken into during Tel Aviv wedding, stolen items recovered after chase

What was supposed to be a festive evening at a wedding in Tel Aviv on Thursday turned into a nightmare for Hali Sini, chief of staff to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid. While the ceremony was underway, police called to say there was suspicion that her car, parked on Hachmei Street, had been broken into. Sini rushed outside and found the windshield smashed, the passenger compartment ransacked and the trunk emptied.

Among the stolen items was a bag containing her laptop, which she said held all of her professional materials. “I was shocked,” she said, describing the moment she realized her belongings were gone. But the case quickly took a better turn.

Officer Nasseb Rasladin, who was at the scene, chased the suspect, arrested him and recovered all of the stolen property. He then brought the items back to Sini, accompanied her to the police station and helped her file the complaint.

The incident comes amid a broader wave of car break-ins in central Israel. Police data show that since the start of 2026, Tel Aviv has had 594 theft-from-vehicle cases, the highest among the cities surveyed. It is followed by Rishon LeZion with 134 cases, Bat Yam with 73, Netanya with 52, Herzliya with 51, Petah Tikva with 43, Ramat Gan with 38 and Rehovot with 28. This week, prosecutors also filed charges against a 27-year-old Bat Yam resident accused of breaking into a car on Hasharon Street in Tel Aviv and stealing personal property, including cards, equipment and documents; police said officers from the Saret station found her shortly after the report, arrested her and completed the investigation, after which an indictment and a request to hold her until the end of proceedings were filed.