“Good morning sir. During the night, while you were asleep, it appears your home was broken into and your vehicle was stolen. The vehicle was recovered by police” was the greeting a Mevassert Tzion resident received this weekend, learning his home was targeted by burglars.

During the predawn hours on Friday morning, police in the Pisgat Ze’ev area of Jerusalem detected a suspicious vehicle as the driver clearly tried avoiding police. The driver tried to flee after seeing police in the area but was apprehended by police after a short vehicular chase followed by the driver fleeing on foot.

After checking the license number of the vehicle, it was understood the car had been stolen from a home in the Mevasseret Tzion area a short time earlier. A further probe into events revealed the thief broke into the home, stole the car keys and then fled in the vehicle.

Police immediately notified the owner of the vehicle, asking the home owner to check the house and see if he can determine if he was the victim of a break-in and that his vehicle is missing. At the same time, police responded to the home in the hope of gathering evidence from the scene.

The thief in custody is a 20-year-old Arab who lives in the eastern capital. He now faces a number of charges, including breaking and entering and car theft. He was arraigned in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.

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