Indictment Filed Over Fatal Crash That Killed Officer Yaniv Elkayim

State prosecutors on Sunday filed a severe indictment in the Central District Court in Lod against 21-year-old Daniel Yevchenko, accusing him of culpable homicide in the death of police officer Yaniv Elkayim about a year ago in Netanya. Prosecutors also asked the court to suspend Yevchenko’s driving license until the criminal proceedings are completed.

According to the indictment, filed by attorney Yael Term from the Central District Prosecutor’s Office, Elkayim and another officer had stopped a police vehicle on the side of the road during a lawful enforcement operation after spotting a traffic violation. Elkayim was standing outside the patrol car, next to the suspected offending vehicle, when the fatal collision occurred.

The indictment says Yevchenko was driving a Mercedes at excessive speed, weaving dangerously between lanes and making highly hazardous overtakes that endangered other road users. During this reckless driving, he lost control and slammed directly into the car parked on the roadside, where the officer was standing.

Elkayim was killed at the scene, and the female driver of the roadside vehicle was injured and taken to hospital. Prosecutors said Yevchenko’s actions created an unreasonable risk to human life and directly caused the officer’s death while he was performing his public duty. He is also charged with careless driving causing a road accident that injured a person, and the full criminal case is expected to begin soon in the district court.