E. J'lem: Driver hits Border Policeman; both hurt

A Border Police officer and East Jerusalem resident were lightly injured Sunday morning after the Arab taxi driver allegedly tried to forcefully enter Oz police station in Jabal Mukbar with his vehicle, police said.

The driver, a 39-year old resident of Jabal Mukbar, was known to police. Jerusalem police spokesman Shmulik Ben Rubi said that the man has a record of minor “security offenses,” but that he is not a member of any sort of armed organization.

After he was denied entry, the driver allegedly rammed his car into a vehicle that was just exiting the station. A Border Police officer approached the taxi and asked to speak with the driver at which point the driver ran his car into the officer, lightly injuring him in the leg.

Three police officers who witnessed the incident fired at the taxi, lightly injuring the driver. MDA paramedics treated both men on the scene before evacuating them to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.

Police said that an initial investigation suggested the incident was nationalistically motivated. "I went crazy, I wanted to go into the police station," the suspect told police. He also reportedly said that he wanted to die, according to Ben Rubi.

Ben Rubi said that the man is currently being investigated by the Shin Bet General Security Services and the Jerusalem branch of the YAMAR investigative unit.