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Terrorist hitched ride with former army man
Lieutenant Colonel (res.) Yossi Woltinsky, who gave suicide bomber ride in his car, tells Ynet he suspected passenger from the start
The suicide bomber who blew himself up Monday morning in an Eilat bakery tried to hitch rides to the center of the city, according to the testimony given by Lt. Col. Yossi Woltinsky.
Woltinsky picked up the terrorist Monday morning, but asked him to get out of his car when his suspicions were aroused. Immediately after, he notified the police.
Woltinsky left his house around 9:00 a.m. On his way to the Sport Hotel, as he does every morning, he looked for workers who missed their ride to the hotels. Ten minutes into his morning commute, he picked up a man wearing a red jacket, a red hat, and a backpack. Woltinksy asked the man where he needs to go, but the passenger didn't talk, and instead, directed him with his hand to drive toward the city.
"I identified a man whom I thought was one of the hotel workers," told Woltinsky. "Immediately as he got in the car, I sensed that there was a problem. I asked him where he wants to go, and he pointed to the center of the city. At first, I undid my seatbelt in case he attacked me or something like that."
Woltinsky sensed that something was in order, and started driving toward the bypass road in order to avoid residential neighborhoods.
On what happened during the rest of the drive, he said, "He pointed with his hand in a threatening way to drive within the city. At that moment, I stopped the car in the middle of the road. I was prepared to jump. At this juncture, I ordered him to get out of the car. At that very moment, I called the police."
Woltinsky explained to his passenger that he had to go straight in order to get to the city, thus directing him along a non-residential route. At the same time, he called the police to alert them of the suspicious man, and gave them a full description of him. Simultaneously, he tried to follow the suspect in his car. However, the terrorist strayed from the road and started to run.
After Woltinsky found about the terror attack, he reconstructed the last movements of the terrorist to Eilat Police, and identified him as the hitchhiker he picked up in the morning.
