A Beit Shemesh resident was arrested and indicted following a verbal altercation with a police officer over a parking summons. A magistrate court in the city ruled in favor of the defendant. The court ruled that one may raise one’s voice to a policeman.

The defendant, a man in his 50s, shouted at a policeman after getting into an argument over a parking summons. After becoming aware the man was carrying a knife, the policeman decided to arrest him and move ahead with a criminal indictment.

The court explained “The man raising his voice at the policeman is not a disturbance and an act that certainly does not justify an arrest”.

This incident occurred in January 2014. Policeman Boris Yitzchaki was called to check into cars parked in a way that they blocked others. One of the recipients of a summons, the defendant, told Boris his vehicle was legally parked and that the summons was unjustified.

The policeman instructed the defendant to leave the area but he refused to comply. The policeman shouted at him and the defendant shouted back. At some point Boris decided to end the shouting match, placing the defendant under arrest. He was charged with resisting arrest. Boris reported at some point he had to threaten to use his taser in order to arrest the man. When Boris frisked his prisoner he found he was carrying a knife. The suspect told Boris he simply forgot to remove the knife from his pocket after tending to his garden. He was held in the police station for several hours before they released him.

Justice Yaron Mintkovitz added “I am convinced the knife was valid and that he simply forgot to remove it from his garment as he explained. Both parties could have behaved more appropriately but there was no reason for his arrest”.

Policeman Boris told the court that in Ramat Beit Shemesh, the moment residents see a police vehicle “they come like flies”, a statement that did not find favor with the court.

“As the conduct of the police officer characterizes the conduct in other cases, you can understand how each event can become a disturbance” the court told Boris in an unpleasant tone as he acquitted the defendant.

Public defender Shai Zilberg explained that the most serious punishment for a person concealing a knife, one without a criminal record, is community service so
“we decided to go all the way. It was clear to me from the onset that the event did not have to occur as a result of a verbal dispute”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)