Dramatic chase in Jerusalem: A divorce refusal prisoner jumped from a toilet window at the Beis Din - and fled

Drama at the High Beis Din: in the middle of a discussion with the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Hagaon Metzger, a discussant asked to use the bathroom, jumped from the second floor - and escaped.

Shai Cohen, a prisoner, a resident of Holon about 40, serving a sentence in prison for refusing divorce was brought before the Rabbinical Court on King George 24 in Jerusalem. During the hearing, he asked to use the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, he jumped from the window of the second floor - and ran into the street.

Large police forces are scouring the area, looking for him. Due to his religious affiliation, covert and overt forces scoured the nearby ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, Mea Shearim, Geula, Makor Baruch, Gush 80 and more, and even checked yeshivas and synagogues.

During the searches, a report was received of an unconscious person on Amarkelim Street in Geula, rescue medics gave him treatment and he was taken by an intensive care unit mobile and in full recognition to Hadassah Mount Scopus.
After one of the paramedics came across the photo of the fugitive, he reported to the police that the man he treated has similar features to the escaped prisoner, and police contacted the hospital to ascertain whether it is the suspect who fled.

Just before 15:45 on Route 443 traffic was reported from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, following another police scans after the prisoner, fearing he on his way to Ben Gurion Airport to flee the country.

Prison Service spokesman said that it is Shai Cohen, a citizen judged for divorce refusal, born in 1973, and a resident of Holon.
The prisoner is in prison since October 2007, and recently his imprisonment was extended by the rabbinical court for another year.

Prisoner's clothing: a blue intel coat, white shirt with stripes, mouse gray pants, was barefoot during his escape, and without handcuffs.

Rabbinical courts management response: "The management works harshly against divorce refuses including a lengthy prison term for refuses. Unfortunately the present case has not yet ended, and we hope the police will do its utmost to catch the objector and to end the painful affair."

Israel's Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, who chaired the panel from which prisoner Shai Cohen escaped calls him to come back and turn himself in: "I appeal to your heart, after six years of your wife's suffering, we came to agreements, your way to freedom is short, it is a shame that in a moment of foolish action it all went down the drain. Come, quarantine yourself and we will reach agreements immediately."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!