Robbed Tourist Reunited With $20,000

A tourist from Poland returned to his home Wednesday night – happy that he had been reunited with thousands of dollars that had been stolen from him earlier in the week. Police said they were happy to ensure that the tourist’s experience in Israel was a positive one.

The robbery occurred earlier this week, when the tourist found that a bag he was carrying had gone missing on a tour of sites in the Old City of Yerushalayim. In the bag were over $20,000, as well as a large amount of Polish zlotys, along with credit cards. The tourist filed a complaint with the police, who promised to do whatever they could to retrieve the money.  They warned him, though,  that often in such cases, tracking down the thief could take a long time, if indeed he was found at all.

Nevertheless, police began what turned out to be a wide-ranging and thorough investigation, and in the end got their man – an Arab from Yerushalayim in whose home the bag containing the money and credit cards were found. The money itself had been removed from the bag, and was hidden in different parts of the house. Under questioning, the thief indicated where the money was, and police collected it, returning it to the grateful tourist.

“We acted with determination and all the tools at our disposal in this case, as we do in all cases,” police said in a statement. “Our intention is to prevent crime and reach those who commit crimes and bring them to justice. In this case we were happy to return the victim’s property.”