Crime Watch: Shirt gives thief away

By REBECCA ANNA STOIL
A thief who broke into a car that was parked near the Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv last month was filmed committing the crime. On Monday, Yiftah District police identified a suspect and called in a 48-year-old Holon resident for questioning. When the suspect arrived at the station, police were surprised to discover that he was wearing the same shirt that the thief was wearing when captured on film during the break-in. The unfashionable suspect was arrested and will be taken Tuesday for a remand extension. A weed of a different nature: Police teamed up with agents from the Israel Nature and National Parks Authority on Monday to apprehend a resident of Faradis, suspected of dealing illegally in a certain green leafy plant - hyssop. The 40-year-old suspect allegedly employed 13 female workers from Tamra to illegally harvest hyssop plants in Shefayya, a violation of the Law for the Protection of Nature. He was questioned under warning by police, and the workers each received NIS 650 fines. Mean girls: Three 14-year-old girls in Beersheba thought they had found a new school pastime: picking on a fellow classmate. When the harassment led to an assault in which the three pulled down the girl's pants, the school's principal punished the three by suspending them from the end-of-school-year field trip. The punishment only served to increase the girls' ill will toward their unfortunate classmate. They set up a Web site on which they posted their victim's picture, superimposed on a photo of a woman in sexually provocative positions, and accompanied by obscene captions. Still not satisfied by their revenge, the girls also scrawled sexually suggestive graffiti about the girl. The victim's parents complained to Beersheba police who investigated and built a case against the three girls. After they were arrested Monday, they confessed to the charges against them, and said that the actions were in revenge for the fact that they had been barred from the long-awaited field trip. ...And more middle school mayhem: In a further instance of questionable activity among middle-schoolers, a 14-year-old Yokneam resident was questioned by police earlier this week after he was caught selling hood ornaments at his school for NIS 10 each. Police found 15 such ornaments in his possession. The young entrepreneur refused to break under police questioning and reveal where he got the ornaments. The case was turned over to juvenile affairs authorities.