A resident of Hod Hasharon was arrested this week after lodging a complaint with
police on stolen phones that led to the discovery that he had been living under
the name of a dead man, police said on Thursday.
“The officers at Kfar
Saba police station thought they saw everything,” a police spokesman said,
adding that officers were very surprised by the twist of events.
The man
had reported two cellphones stolen on Tuesday while he was out with his young
son in a park. The phones were left in a baby stroller and stolen, the man
added.
Police located two suspects, aged 16 and 18, from Hebron, and
found them in possession of the phones hidden in their underwear. They were
arrested, and the man was called to the police station to take down a full
testimony from him.
After being asked to provide an ID, officers ran a
check of the man’s name and found the identity he was using belonged to another
man who immigrated to Israel and died five years ago.
The man was
detained on suspicion of identity fraud, and later confessed to paying $400 for
the identity.