Police arrest second suspect in Kinneret attack on US students

Police arrest second sus

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Police arrested another suspect on Friday in connection with a brutal attack on a group of American Jewish students on a Kinneret beach last summer. During the June 28 attack, an intoxicated gang armed with metal poles, rocks and chairs assaulted the students, causing extensive injuries to some of them. Police had arrested a 25-year-old suspect from Kiryat Ata in the days following the attack, but nine attackers remained at large, having managed to flee the scene by telling arriving officers that they were the victims of the attack. Police, however, noted the license plate numbers of two vehicles before allowing those fleeing to drive away, and put out a nationwide alert to police after it became clear that the "victims" had been the assailants. On Friday, a car matching the description of one of the getaway vehicles was pulled over by Coastal Police near Haifa for a routine check. "The suspect was arrested on the spot," Tiberias Police chief, Dep.-Cmdr. Efi Partuk, told The Jerusalem Post. "The suspect confirmed that the car belonged to him, but denied any links with the attack. He provided an alibi," Partuk added. "[But] he was in the car which was involved in the incident and which fled the scene. On the basis of these facts, he was arrested," Partuk said. Police will now seek to prove that the suspect was involved in the attack. In September, Partuk vowed that progress would be made in the investigation, and that two main suspects in the attack would soon be captured. The first suspect arrested in connection with the attack was set to stand trial last month, but police asked prosecutors to halt the legal proceedings to allow more time to make further arrests. Isaac, a 21-year-old student from Los Angeles, bore the brunt of the assault, and sustained cuts and bruises to his head and back. He was forced to cut short his stay in Israel and fly back to the US to recover from his injuries. Isaac has since made a full recovery, and intends to return here, but says he remains deeply affected by the memory of the attack. Speaking to the Post in September, Isaac said he was grateful to the police for its ongoing efforts to capture the suspects, adding, "I would still like to see them all prosecuted."