Police hunt for French tourist suspected of hit and run

BMW vehicle involved in accident that killed 25-year-old Lee Zeitouni found in TA parking lot; missing driver believed to have fled the country.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
crime scene (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [illustrative])
crime scene
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [illustrative])
Police have launched a nation-wide search for a French tourist suspected of being involved in a lethal hit and run accident which claimed the life a 25-year-old woman on Friday morning in north Tel Aviv.
Lee Zeitouni, a Pilates instructor, was on her way to a gym to give a class when she was struck by a black BMW sports utility vehicle on Pinkhas Street.
RELATED:
Memorial ride for cyclists killed in accident draws 2,000
The blow sent Zeitouni flying onto the oncoming lane, where she was struck by a second vehicle. She was instantly killed.
The BMW raced away from the scene of the accident.
Zeitouni was identified at the scene by stunned colleagues from her gym. Magen David Adom paramedics pronounced her dead on the scene.
Police launched a major search for the vehicle, and asked members of the public to report any possible sighting of a BMW X6 model that fit the description of the vehicle seen striking Zeitouni.
After several hours, a Tel Aviv resident responded to the appeal and reported finding a BMW with visible damage to its front in parking lot of a building on Tel Aviv's Maze street. It was traced to a French tourist whose whereabouts are still not known.
Police were also examining the possibility that a second man was in the jeep when it struck the woman.
Law enforcement sources told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday that all lines of inquiry were being examined, and that it had not yet been established whether the main suspect fled the country or not.
The man had been spotted by residents leaving an apartment he was staying at.
Border officials at the country's air and sea ports have been notified of the man's identity, and Tel Aviv police have created a special task force to track down the suspect.
Police are also prepared to send alerts to foreign police forces through Interpol if necessary.
Zeitouni was born and raised in Kibbutz Neve Or in northern Israel. She leaves behind her parents and a sister.