Last update - 00:00 25/09/2007
Driver in fatal ATV accident transferred to Kishon prison
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent
The 20-year-old man who allegedly killed a child in Kfar Tavor during Yom Kippur was transferred Monday to the Kishon prison after receiving treatment for a hand injury at Afula's Haemek Hospital.
Assad Shibli, 20, crashed an all-terrain vehicle into nine-year-old Tal Zino near a synagogue on Yom Kippur.
The native of the village of Shibli, which is situated near Kfar Tavor, was taken to hospital after he suffered minor injuries when the ATV overturned as a result of the accident.
"The suspect continues to claim that he entered Kfar Tavor in order to draw money from the cash machine at the bank and then the residents of the village scared him and that is why he drove fast when he hit the girl," Uzi Hadar, chief of the traffic accident section at the regional police station, said Monday.
Investigators are reluctant to accept his version of events, since the cash point is situated at the entrance to Kfar Tavor while the synagogue is in the middle of the village. Moreover, Shibli's license had been revoked for a previous traffic violation.
The owner of the ATV, also a resident of Shibli, maintains that the suspect had stolen the vehicle.
Shibli has been remanded into custody until Saturday night, Hadar said, and "the investigation is being carried out at a rapid pace. We are hoping to be able to press charges by week's end."
Police are still searching for another person who was riding on the ATV with Shibli.