Netanya police crack down on criminals' use of public land

Convoy of police, bulldozer demolishes junkyard and horse farm in the city.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
bulldozer 88 (photo credit: AP)
bulldozer 88
(photo credit: AP)
Police in Netanya clamped down Monday on crime figures' illegal use of public property, dispatching a convoy of police vehicles and a bulldozer to demolish a junkyard and a horse farm in the city. The move was part of Operation Brakelights, which is aimed at bringing together the police and local authorities to crack down on criminal activity in the crime-stricken city. Last month, a similar operation to clear a junkyard owned by the Mesitali family ended in an attempt to run over a plainclothes detective and to attack a second police officer, both of whom had been at the scene. Two members of the family were arrested in that incident. Monday's operation passed off quietly, after a junkyard belonging to crime figure Shalom Tuviana was bulldozed. A horse farm and chicken shed belonging to a second figure, Baruch Falah, were also demolished. Last month, a storehouse Tuviana owned was also bulldozed - an incident that sparked a verbal confrontation between Tuviana and a police officer, although no arrests were made. Ch.-Supt. Avi Sananas of the Netanya Police, who oversaw Monday's operation, told The Jerusalem Post that the demolitions were aimed at bolstering the Netanya municipality and reclaiming public property. Sananas said Operation Brakelights was made up of "undercover and open cases," adding that Monday's operation was an example of police action over an open case of public property infringement.