Police seek ATV driver for Rehovot hit-and-run

Driver allegedly struck, moderately hurt 2 teen girls on purpose after they commented on his reckless driving near Givat Brenner.

By BEN HARTMAN
ATV 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
ATV 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Police from the Shfela subdistrict launched a manhunt Friday night for an all-terrain- vehicle driver who they suspect intentionally hit two teenage joggers on a dirt road near Kibbutz Brenner.
According to Shfela region police spokeswoman Ch.- Supt. Leah Zohar, a group of around 15 runners was on a training run in an open area near the kibbutz when an ATV driver blazed past them at a high speed, kicking up a cloud of dust and dirt.
Zohar said the runners signaled him to slow down, at which point the driver turned his vehicle around and drove back, crashing into two young women before tearing off.
Police are calling for the driver to turn himself in as soon as possible, and have stepped up efforts to locate him, Zohar said.
The accident left 19-yearold Radat Baltah, one of the country’s most promising young runners, hospitalized in satisfactory to good condition at Rehovot’s Kaplan Medical Center, along with training partner Tigaset Bitau, 15, who was in serious condition on Friday night.
Baltah was expected to be released from Kaplan on Saturday night, while Bitau’s condition has also improved, to satisfactory,.
The runners were being trained by Israeli long-distance runner Wudge Zebediyah, who said on Saturday night that Baltah had set her sights on making it to the 2012 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, and that he had not been told by hospital staff whether she would be able to have a running career following the accident.