Stabbing suspect turns himself in

By YIGAL GRAYEFF
Dror Alperon, the son of alleged crime boss Ya'acov Alperon, gave himself up to police on Tuesday after seven weeks on the run, following the stabbing of alleged underworld figure Amir Mulner. Both Alperons are suspects in the incident, which took place at the Daniel Hotel in Herzliya during an "underworld summit" at the beginning of January. The elder Alperon gave himself up to police four weeks ago and was in custody for more than two weeks before being released. Tel Aviv police denied reports that they had agreed to a deal with the Alperon family which included Dror giving himself up. The 18-year-old is likely to appear before Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, where police would probably request he be kept in custody, a spokeswoman said. Family lawyer Shay Nudel said the Alperons denied stabbing Mulner, who was lightly wounded in the incident. "Dror entered a fight that had already started in order to extricate his father, who was attacked," Nudel said in an interview. "A lot of people took part in the fight. We don't know who stabbed [Mulner] but it wasn't them." Dror didn't give himself up earlier because he feared the consequences. "He was afraid of the police and because people said there would be gang warfare because of this," said Nudel, adding that he finally went to the police because "his family persuaded him that he didn't have a choice." Dror Alperon is due to be drafted into an elite unit in the army in March, a date that Nudel hopes he will be able to keep. Mulner himself has been in custody for more than two weeks after being arrested for the possession of weapons and explosives, although he could be freed to house arrest on Wednesday, Northern police said on Tuesday. This follows a decision by Nazareth District to release him on bail of NIS 100,000, although prosecutors are due to appeal the decision in the High Court on Wednesday.