Palestinian who ran over officers had long criminal record
Police confirm reports by associates of man who assaulted Border Guard forces in Wadi Joz, according to which his police record contained several cases involving violence, aggravated assault
Sources who were close to the man, who was shot dead after the attack, told Ynet that the previous violent incident in which he was involved occurred at the Nablus Gate during police attempts to enforce order at Friday prayers and regulate the traffic of worshippers to Temple Mount mosques.
Police sources confirmed the reports and said police recommended indicting the man following the previous incident but that the State Prosecutor's Office decided against such a move.
A Ynet inquiry suggests that the man had a criminal record which included four cases involving violence, aggravated assault and threats since 1998.
The man was buried in a cemetery in east Jerusalem hours after the Wadi Joz incident.
Corporal Shai Hazan, one of the officers injured in the incident, said from his hospital bed: "We were walking single-file towards the exit from Wadi Joz, and we saw a Toyota pickup truck slowly approaching us. He suddenly stepped on the gas pedal and sped up his car, flinging me and my comrades to the side."
Hazan was wearing a bullet-proof vest and a helmet at the time of the incident. He said he barley remembers what happened after being hit. "He rammed into us, I was tossed in the air from the force of the blow, and afterwards, everything was blurry," he said.
