Indictment Filed Over Fatal Crash That Killed Police Officer Yaniv Alkaim in Netanya

The State Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment last week in the Central District Court in Lod against 21-year-old Daniel Yevchenko, accusing him of negligent manslaughter and reckless driving in the death of police officer Yaniv Alkaim. Prosecutors also asked the court to suspend his driver’s license until the end of the trial.

According to the indictment, the deadly crash happened in Netanya about a year ago while Alkaim and another officer were conducting traffic enforcement. They had stopped their police car next to another vehicle that had committed a traffic violation, and Alkaim was standing beside it when Yevchenko approached in a Mercedes.

The prosecution says Yevchenko was driving at excessive speed, weaving sharply between lanes and making dangerous overtakes. He then slammed into the vehicle beside which Alkaim was standing, killing the officer at the scene. The driver of the other car was injured and treated in hospital.

Prosecutors said Yevchenko “took an unreasonable risk of causing a person’s death” and caused the death of an officer “while performing his duty.” Alkaim, a 42-year-old Netanya resident, joined the police in 2016 and served as a shift commander in the Netanya station patrol unit. He left behind a wife, four children, his mother, and five siblings.