The police’s case against a serial bank robber appears to be on shaky ground as
the Ramle Magistrate’s Court extended suspect Gabi Kosanosky’s remand for the
fifth time on Wednesday, nearly a month after he was first arrested and charged
with 15 separate bank robberies and the murder of a bank security
guard.
Kosanosky, the “Motorcycle Bandit 2,” was caught by undercover
cops after a Be’er Ya’acov bank robbery on December 5, and Central District
Police greeted the arrest of their No. 1 target with great fanfare.
On
Wednesday, however, police were forced to request a fifth extension of his
remand, a move that required the approval of the Attorney-General’s Office, as
it would mean keeping Kosanosky in jail past the 30-day limit for presenting an
indictment.
In court on Wednesday, Kosanosky’s lawyers Omar Guetta and
Shahar Hitzroni worked to punch holes in the police case, which they said does
not include sufficient evidence to present an indictment.
Speaking to The
Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, Guetta said, “Typically when the court extends the
remand of someone this long, again and again, it’s a sign that something is not
right with the case.”
Guetta would not relate to reports that police lack
DNA or other hard evidence to link his client to the robberies, saying only that
the case is lacking, as indicated by the repeated extensions of Kosanosky’s
remand. He added that his client has denied any connection to all but the single
robbery during which he was arrested.
At the end of the hearing on
Wednesday, Judge Leora Frenkel extended Kosanosky’s remand for an additional 13
days, saying she is certain there is still significant reason to suspect he is
linked to the crimes, and that police carried out “a great deal of investigative
work” that has produced evidence linking him to the crimes.
Kosanosky, a
former Border Police officer, stands accused of armed robbery and murder, in
connection to a Bank Hapoalim in Be’er Ya’acov in August in which security guard
Yaniv Engler was shot dead.
In early September police announced the
arrest of a man they said was the serial bank robber, but released him shortly
thereafter.
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