Two men arrested in West Bank for carjacking Petach Tikvah taxi driver

Police from the Sharon sub-district chase and catch the perpetrators of a violent carjacking that left a cab driver hospitalized.

By BEN HARTMAN
police car 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
police car 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
After a short manhunt, two Palestinians from the West Bank were arrested late Wednesday night after they beat and car-jacked a cab driver in Petah Tikva hours earlier, police said.
Around 10 p.m. on Wednesday night, Sharon subdistrict police reported that two Arab men had taken a cab from Lod to Petah Tikva and when it arrived in the city they beat the cab driver, pulled him from the vehicle and tore off for the West Bank. The driver, who was laying on the road, was apparently run over by his own cab, and later hospitalized in moderate condition.
Police from the Sharon subdistrict gave chase and alerted Judea and Samaria District Police that they believed the suspects were attempting to flee into the West Bank. Officers lost track of the men in the area of Kfar Bruchin.
Two hours later, after the track had gone cold, officers received a tip that the cab had been spotted on Highway 60 near Huwara in Samaria.
Police, backed up by the army, gave chase, and caught the men while they tried to cross a nearby checkpoint.
The two men, both from Nablus, were arrested and taken to Petah Tikva where they will undergo further questioning, police said Thursday morning.