The family of an elderly haredi man who was hospitalized after being mistakenly arrested by police recently lambasted the police department for the false arrest and subsequent abandonment of the man in the middle of the night far from his home with no means of transportation.
Yosef Fleishman, 66, was dragged from his bed in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem last Thursday and arrested by police, after officers mistakenly identified him as a wanted suspect.
Hours later, after officers realized their mistake, Fleishman, who suffers from a mental disorder, was released, but given no means of transportation back home, leaving him to wander the streets in the middle of the night.
Fleishman was later declared missing, only to be discovered 15 hours later when he was found lying in the woods, suffering from hypothermia. He was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Hospital for treatment.
Fleishman’s nephew, Yeshayahu Fleishman, excoriated police after watching footage of his uncle’s arrest.
“Accursed, wicked people,” Yeshayahu said of police, according to a report by Yediot Aharanot Monday.
“We saw how horribly they dragged him out. But the worst part was that they released him without someone to accompany him. They left him on death’s doorstep.”
“How could something like this happen? You can easily see that he is handicapped Why did they drag him out without shoes on? Why did they rush him around? And worst of all was when they released him – the police just let him go without anyone to go with him; they left him on death’s doorstep. If this were a secular person from Tel Aviv, this would never have happened. Since it is a haredi man from Meah Sharim, so who cares.”
A police spokesperson responded to the incident saying in a statement: “Following the incident, the district chief has appointed a senior commander to investigate the matter and to deliver the findings of his examination.”
Minister Ohana visits abandoned elderly men.
Internal Security Minister Amir Ohana this evening visited the elderly Yosef Fleishman, who was hospitalized at Shaare Zedek Hospital after being abandoned in the middle of the night on the street by Israeli police officers.
The Minister was accompanied by his haredi society affairs team head Superintendent (retired) Arik Yekuel.
“I expressed to Yosef my deep sorrow at what had happened. I sent him on behalf of many citizens who appealed to me a strengthening embrace and good health wishes. The Israel Police will investigate the incident and draw lessons from it to reduce the recurrence of such cases,” said Minister Ohana.
The Israel Police said, “Following a complaint received by the police about threats, the police officers arrived at the address given to them by the complainant. There they met a person who refused to identify himself as required, so he had to be detained and refused to cooperate.”
“After identification operations carried out at the police station, it became clear that this was not the suspect wanted for investigation for threats, so the man was released immediately. Later in the day, a report was received that the man was missing and the police began carrying out a variety of operations until he was located. In addition to the aforesaid, we intend to investigate the case and, if necessary, the necessary lessons will be learned accordingly.”
תשמעו את הזעקות של אדם בן 70, חולני, לדברי מכריו אינו בריא בנפשו, שנעצר הלילה ע״י שוטרי משטרת ירושלים.
״אני באמצע השינה!
מה אתם רוצים ממני?
אני לא יכול ללכת!״
בסרטון רואים אותו מובל ללא נעליים, לאחר שנשלף ממיטתו.
שוחרר אחרי זמן קצר, לטענת המשטרה ״בשל תקלה במערכת הזיהוי״. מאז נעלם pic.twitter.com/iWQH3vjGfS— יאיר שרקי (@yaircherki) December 17, 2020
Source: Arutz Sheva