Indictment Filed Against Homeless Man Over Threats and Minors Abduction
The State Attorney's Office filed a severe indictment against a 19-year-old homeless man for kidnapping minors, threatening passersby, and brandishing a knife.
The State Attorney's Office filed an indictment at the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court against 19-year-old Yigal Buskila, a homeless man from Jerusalem, detailing three counts of unlawful imprisonment, threats, assault causing actual bodily harm, assault, invasion of privacy, and illegal possession of a knife.
Indictment Details and Incidents
According to the indictment, during August Buskila wandered across the country, sleeping in public places and shelters, and initiated conversations with random passersby, including minors. In one case, he approached a 10-year-old boy playing on a football pitch in Petah Tikva, told the children he had previously been in prison, and asked for money. He then walked with the boy for several hours across Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan, and Bnei Brak without his parents' knowledge.
At one point, he led the boy to an abandoned underground shelter in Bnei Brak. After sitting down, Buskila placed his head on the boy's shoulder and knees. The minor, who was unfamiliar with the place and lacked a mobile phone, began to cry and asked to leave, but Buskila kept him there and said they would leave later. The boy was located by the Police of Israel in Bnei Brak after midnight, and Buskila was arrested.
In another incident in Hadera, Buskila approached two 17-year-old girls, told them he was dangerous with criminal connections, and threatened to harm or murder passersby. When one girl called a friend for help, Buskila threatened them, grabbed her hand, and tried to take her phone. The following day, he returned to her residential building and whistled toward her open window.
"The multiplicity of cases, the young age of the victims, and the fact that the acts were committed in the public space indicate a clear danger to the public," the prosecution stated in its remand motion.
Detention and Prior Offenses
In a third incident, Buskila met a 15-year-old boy at the central bus station in Beersheba, asked him for money, cigarettes, shoes, and a place to sleep, and traveled with him to Arad. In a dark shelter, when the boy turned on his mobile phone light, Buskila asked him to turn it off and pulled out a large, sharp knife.
The prosecution requested that Buskila be held in custody until the end of legal proceedings, noting that he has three additional pending indictments for property offenses and illegal possession of a knife.
