Crime, accidents mar Independence Day

As nation celebrates, cops, MDA teams, firefighters rush to rescue.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, JONAH MANDEL
traffic cop 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
traffic cop 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
While the nation celebrated its 62nd Independence Day on Tuesday, responders rushed to crime and accident scenes around the country as the holiday at times took a violent or tragic turn.
Early in the day, a man in his fifties, Refael Zvi, was stabbed to death in Givat Shmuel. The main suspect was said to be his mentally ill son, aged 25, who was taken in for questioning.
Police, MDA personnel and firefighters worked to rescue a man who fell into a five-meter-deep aqueduct adjacent to Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway. Two of the highway’s lanes were blocked for hours until the man was evacuated to the city’s Sourasky Medical Center in moderate condition.
According to police, the man had fallen into the aqueduct over 15 hours prior to his rescue, remaining helplessly trapped there until a passerby heard him call for help and called the police.
Several hundred meters away from the aqueduct, at Tel Aviv’s CentralBus Station, an inebriated 25-year-old attempted to steal the rifle ofa border policewoman who was traveling to her base.
Apparently the soldier had tried to break up a fight at the stationwhen one of the men involved began to attack her. She fought back untilthe attacker left the area. He was later apprehended by police.
In Jerusalem’s Denya Park, one person was lightly wounded in a clashthat erupted for unknown reasons between dozens of people who werecelebrating at the site. An MDA team treated the man at the scene aspolice arrested five people.
Lake Kinneret’s beaches on Monday night were the site of severalaltercations, including one alcohol-induced stabbing. A large policeforce was deployed to the scene to restore calm, and nine people werearrested.
In Bnei Brak, hundreds of haredim blocked an intersection anddemonstrated against the existence of the State of Israel, hurlingstones at a police car. No one was hurt, but some damage was causedbefore police dispersed the protesters.
In Jerusalem, meanwhile, Arab residents of Tira made their way to theMount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University in two buses on Tuesday,planning to demonstrate at the site without a permit. They waved blackflags and Fatah banners as police forced them back onto the buses andled them out of the city.
On Monday night, a left-wing activist was arrested after baring hisbackside during an alternative Independence Day torch-lighting ceremonynear the Bank of Israel building.
Two children were reported seriously hurt in holiday-related accidents.
On Monday night, a 4-year-old girl was rushed in serious condition toHadassah-University Hospital at Ein Kerem after falling from the roofof her Jerusalem home. The girl’s father, singer and composer YonatanRazel, had climbed a ladder with the girl in tow in order to give her agood view of the annual fireworks display. When they reached the  roof,the girl slipped from Razel’s grasp, falling to the ground and hittingher head.
On Tuesday afternoon, a toddler aged about two was taken to ShebaMedical Center in Tel Hashomer after accidentally consuming lighterfluid. An emergency response team resuscitated the unconscious childand gave him preliminary treatment at the scene.