Brother of chief suspect in Bar Noar case arrested for rape

Yaakov Felician allegedly raped lawyer who wanted to become part of brother's defense team.

By BEN HARTMAN
Suspect in Bar Noar shooting 370 (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Suspect in Bar Noar shooting 370
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Yaakov Felician, the brother of the main suspect in the Bar Noar murder, was arrested last week on suspicion of raping a female lawyer last week in central Israel, police released for publication on Monday.
Felician, a known associate of the Avi Ruhan crime family, was arrested last Friday by Petah Tikva Police after the lawyer issued a complaint that he had raped her Thursday night in a storehouse at the egg distribution factory where he works and lives.
On Friday, Felician was brought before the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court, where his remand was extended by eight days.
Felician reportedly met the woman in mid- June, after a mutual acquaintance named Dudi set up a meeting between the two. The lawyer was hoping to become part of the defense team for one of the three suspects, and hoped Felician could help get her on the case. They ended up meeting three times, the first time with Dudi and the second time with Felician’s mother. On the third meeting, Felician allegedly raped the woman on a mattress in the storehouse.
Police said on Friday that they have seized video footage from the scene of the crime, as well as a series of text messages exchanged between the lawyer and Felician.
Felician’s brother Hagai is the alleged gunman in the Bar Noar shooting that left two dead and 11 wounded on August 1, 2009.
Yaakov Felician is well known to police. In November 2011, unknown assailants shot at him and Hagai as they were sitting in a public park in Pardess Katz, leaving Yaakov moderately wounded and Hagai lightly hurt. The shooting remains unsolved. In another family brush with tragedy, the Felician brothers’ brother-inlaw is Ayal Salhov, a former underworld figure and police informant murdered in 2009 in an unsolved case.