Dramatic Footage Shows Police Entering the Crowd and Pulling Out Suspected Haredi Arsonist

Jerusalem District Police and Border Police officers closed the case and arrested a Jerusalem resident suspected of setting fire to a security motorcycle belonging to the light rail during a violent disturbance on Bar Ilan Street. The suspect’s detention was extended by the court, and police said they will continue to act decisively, analyze footage from the scene, and reach every lawbreaker who blended into the crowd in order to bring him to justice.

Police said officers from the Jerusalem District, together with Border Police fighters, succeeded in arresting a suspect in the arson of a security motorcycle. The incident took place during a violent demonstration on Bar Ilan Street in the capital on May 28, when dozens of extremists gathered on the light rail route, blocked traffic, and caused extensive damage. The arrest is part of intensive investigative activity, both overt and covert, that police have been conducting recently in an effort to identify the protesters who broke the law, according to police.

In footage released by police spokesman's office, showing the sequence of events, security cameras capture moments of chaos on Bar Ilan Street, as a crowd surges onto the light rail route in the middle of a violent protest. In those minutes, one of those involved is seen approaching a motorcycle belonging to the light rail security company and setting it on fire with an inflammable substance. Within seconds, the motorcycle is engulfed in flames and huge fire plumes rise from it, all in the middle of the busy street and near passersby.

The second part of the footage shows the rapid closing of the circle by security forces. Detectives and police officers, accompanied by Border Police fighters, are seen acting decisively in the middle of a large gathering, locating the suspect from within the crowd and apprehending him quickly and professionally. Despite attempts around them to create congestion and obstruct the forces, the officers pushed back the crowd, handcuffed the suspect, and led him directly to a Border Police vehicle waiting at the scene for further questioning.

The suspect, a Jerusalem resident, was brought before the Magistrate's Court in the city, where police requested an extension of his detention in order to complete the necessary investigative steps. The court accepted the request of law enforcement representatives and ordered that his detention be extended until Monday, 25 Sivan, June 15. Police stressed that this arrest joins a long series of arrests carried out in recent days against rioters, and that it sends a clear message to anyone who thinks he can hide בתוך a crowd and carry out serious and violent criminal offenses without paying the price.