Ole! Spanish tourists fend off muggers on Tel Aviv street

Ole! Spanish tourists fe

By BEN HARTMAN
A group of Spanish tourists beat back two would-be muggers on a Tel Aviv street early on Sunday morning. Around 5 a.m., police received a report of a brawl on the city's Allenby Street. The tourists told officers that two assailants, one male and one female, had attacked them and tried to steal a cellphone. The Spaniards refused to give them the phone and a fracas ensued in which the tourists managed to send the thieves fleeing on foot. Police found them nearby shortly thereafter. One suspect was an 18-year-old man from Nahaf, near Karmiel, and the second a 20-year-old woman from Tel Aviv. Both suspects have criminal records. They will be brought before a Tel Aviv court on Monday, when police will seek an extension of their remand. Police said when they attempted to arrest the female suspect she bit one of the arresting officers on the leg. The officer was not injured and the assailant was quickly subdued. The tourists had not encountered the suspects before the attack and the incident did not involve any sort of altercation in a club that spilled out onto the street, police said. Allenby Street is a popular nightlife district and fights often break out in its clubs and bars late at night. A police representative said the area is not particularly dangerous or known for attacks on tourists, other than a few isolated cases.