Moshav Farmer: Police Harassing Me for Shooting Thief

A farmer in the Sharon who was robbed by four Arabs from Kalansua found himself under arrest after shooting one of the culprits in the leg – and complained to Channel 12 that “police are putting me through more interrogations than they are the thieves.” In response, police said that they were dealing with the situation in the appropriate matter.

The incident occurred last Friday, when four armed Arabs from the nearby town of Kalansua robbed several of the farmer’s Thai workers at Porat, a moshav in the Sharon region. The Arab thieves lined up the workers and demanded from them their money, phones and other personal items. Another worker who witnessed the robbery alerted the farmer, who arrived at the scene with his weapon. He fired twice in the air demanding that the thieves drop their loot and leave, but they refused – and then he shot one of the thieves in the leg, disabling him.

The other three ran away, and after questioning the injured thief, they caught his colleagues. All four were arrested and questioned, and a search of their belongings yielded items stolen from the workers, as well as knives and brass knuckles.

But the farmer was also taken in for questioning, and since Friday, he told Channel 12, he has been questioned some half a dozen times about the shooting. “Police are investing more in questioning me than they are in questioning the thieves,” he said. “It’s been almost non-stop. This is very depressing.”

In a statement, police said that they were “investigating this matter very seriously, and we intend to address all complaints and issues involved. We will continue to investigate the matter and ensure that justice is done.”