Beit Shemesh "Cellphone Store" Arsonists Arrested! They were from Yerushalayim

 

The suspects arrived in a taxi to Beit Shemesh carrying gasoline bottles, set fire to the cellphone store and fled back to Jerusalem | In a swift interrogation operation by the Jerusalem District police, the suspects were arrested at their apartment, where detectives also located a number of Molotov cocktails and grenades | After their interrogation is completed, an indictment is expected today

Over the past few weeks, an investigation has been conducted at the Beit Shemesh station in the Jerusalem District following the arson attack on a cellphone store in Beit Shemesh. 

According to the suspicion, the background in the act is the issue of the "kosherness" of the devices and the opposition of extremist elements to their sale. As part of the investigation, Beit Shemesh Station detectives arrested two suspects involved in the act, and their investigation was completed in recent days. They are expected to be indicted on Sunday.

On Sunday three weeks ago, at around 3:15 A.M., the police received a report of a fire at a cellphone business in the city of Beit Shemesh. As a result, the business and its contents were severely damaged. Police officers from the Beit Shemesh station in the Jerusalem district and fire brigade forces were called to the scene.

Following the incident, Jerusalem District police and forensic investigators began collecting findings and a police investigation was launched. Preliminary investigations at the scene strengthened the suspicion that this was deliberate arson.

The police investigation revealed that the two suspects arrived in a nearby vehicle, approached the business on foot, and after breaking down the door of the business and pouring flammable material, started a fire in the area and fled.

Following these findings, Beit Shemesh station investigators and intelligence officials worked to locate the suspects, and initially, the driver of the vehicle was located and detained for interrogation.

After carrying out the investigative activities at the Beit Shemesh police station, using various and varied means in order to trace the suspects, the identity of those involved was revealed. In accordance with court orders issued in favor of arresting the suspects, the next day, Beit Shemesh Station detectives located the two suspects in the apartment of one of them, and the two were arrested.

During a search of the apartment, detectives found four Molotov cocktails and tear gas and smoke grenades seized by the police. The suspects were taken to the Beit Shemesh police station for interrogation.

The investigation also revealed that prior to the incident, one of the suspects went to a gas station on a scooter, filled bottles with flammable material and returned to the apartment where they were staying in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem. After committing the arson alleged to them, they later returned to the apartment, where they tried to conceal evidence linking them to the act.

The detention of the two suspects was extended at the request of the police in court from time to time, and police investigators established an evidentiary basis against them for setting fire to the store. The police investigation was recently completed, and today an indictment is expected against them by the State Prosecutor's Office.

VIP officer at the Beit Shemesh station, Superintendent Aviad Balmas, said: "The Israel Police views with great severity any attempt to harm business owners, whether they are cellular sellers or other business owners, and will continue to act with determination and with all the means at its disposal against unacceptable cases of vandalism and violence wherever they may be.

"Thanks to the determination of the Beit Shemesh police officers in the Jerusalem District, the investigation conducted in recent weeks following the arson of a telephone store in the city was completed after the station's investigators managed to track down the suspects and arrest them. Upon completion of the investigation, charges are expected against them. This unacceptable conduct by these lawbreakers will not discourage us from fighting crime and we will continue to use a variety of forces and means to bring to justice those criminals who try to harm public peace, security and property."