Avraham Gil, 19, son of the Israeli Consul in Miami Eli Gil, was charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence last week after "intentionally" running over a police officer and resisting arrest in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. According to local police, Gil cut traffic until a police officer signaled him to stop, after which Gil ran him over.
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According to a report on the incident, the policeman attacked by Gil became incapacitated due to the injury in his left leg. Local police arrested Gil and charged him with aggravated battery and resisting an officer with violence. The police added Gil's motorcycle didn't have a license plate, and that he rode the vehicle without a valid license.
According to the police, Gil apologized to the officer for "driving between vehicles" and explained that he "hates to wait" behind cars on the road. The police released a photo of the Israeli youth crying in custody. Gil's trial is set to resume on February 26.
During his hearing, Gil's lawyer claimed that he was entitled to "consular immunity" due to his father's position in the Israeli consulate. According to the U.S. State Department, however, consular immunity gives consular representatives only limited immunity, which protects them from criminal prosecution related to their duties alone.
"Diplomatic immunity is not given to people who are called consular officials, and those are people who are not the head diplomatic agent of a foreign country here in the United States, so there is a distinction,” said David Weinstein, a state and federal prosecutor in Miami.