The police were amazed: A gang who mugged an old woman from Jerusalem - Orthodox yeshiva student's

Exposure: Orthodox yeshiva students were arrested on suspicion of membership in the gang who mugged an elderly woman.


The assistant of the orthodox council member in the Jerusalem Municipality and four other ultra-Orthodox youngsters, some yeshiva students were arrested a week ago on suspicion of robbing an elderly woman in her 70's, and took her bag containing money of 20,000 shekels in cash.


A month ago, it is believed, Yonathan Kalimi gave assistant council member Shmuel Yitzchaki, information to his friends that an elderly woman, a resident of the Katamon neighborhood and Shmuel Yitzchaki's aunt, holds large sums of money.

The thing was known to Kalimi after helping a woman and when asked for help depositing money. Kalimi photographed the woman and showed the picture to his friends, Yosef, Aviater and David.


They drove to the Western Wall in a van - where the elderly woman would stay. After they befriended her and bought her faith, they offered her a free ride home.


She accepted the proposal favorably. On the way - in Bell Park - they staged a flat tire.

They told the old woman told they must stop, but the woman was afraid and she protested.


The three who were in the car pressured the woman to leave the car with the handbag - with the amount of money – to leave in the car. Then they fled the scene.


The woman was helped by one of the passers-by's who lent her a mobile phone. She called her nephew, Councilman Shmuel Yitzchaki, and he called his assistant Yonathan Kalimi. Together they went to the Bell Park area, where they picked her up and went to file a complaint with the police.

Spending campaign in Eilat
According to the suspicion, immediately after the robbery, some of those involved went out on a spending campaign that included stays in hotels in Eilat and entertainment in questionable places. One of those involved did not join the celebration and was content with taking his part in the amount of money stolen.


After the activities of the Jerusalem police, three suspects who were in the car were arrested.


One detainee told investigators that some of the money is saved for the assistant of the member of the Council, as he is the one who provided the information. Subsequently, the police summoned Kalimi for questioning, and at the end - was arrested.

On Motzei Shabbos another one who was involved was arrested in the act of robbery, but joined the spending campaign with those involved. The suspect was released to house arrest for nine days under the supervision of one of his relatives. The release was performed under restrictive conditions.


The police intend to press charges and request remand.

Attorney Ariel Atari, who represents Yonathan Kalimi said in response to B'Chadrei Charedim: "This is a Kafkaesque. A man was helping all his life a poor woman, bought her groceries and medicine and one day finds he is questioned on robbery.


"Kalimi is the salt of the earth, a law student that helps the needy for many years and we expect him to be released in the coming days after it is surmised that this is a huge mistake of the police."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!