Over the course of six weeks, one industrious squatter staged 8 break-ins at various private business and other buildings in and around Kibbutz Tuval in the Galilee.
Mohammed Naameh, 27, from Dir al-Asad, managed to sneak into a bed and breakfast, a winery, a grocery store, a youth recreational center and a school. According to the indictment filed against him on Monday at the Acre Magistrate Court, he is being charged with a total of eight counts of burglary, trespassing and theft.
A long list of crimes
Naameh not only stole items but he made himself quite at home in the process. He broke into the Kibbutz Tuval guesthouse three times, taking full advantage of the amenities by preparing meals and taking naps.
He also visited the nearby town of Kishor, where he broke into a winery and stole a bottle of wine worth NIS 100 as well as another hundred shekels in cash from the register. On a separate occasion, he broke into the kibbutz grocery store and stole a 400-shekel bottle of wine.
Naameh also broke into several educational institutions in his hometown of Dir al-Asad as well as neighboring towns. He stole a laptop and headphones from the Dir al-Asad high school and took food from the refrigerator at a kindergarten in Kibbutz Toval. At the youth recreational center, he prepared a meal for himself in the kitchen and, according to the indictment, caused a ruckus.
Some of the burglaries were committed after he had already been caught for doing the other ones and then subsequently released.
Statement from the prosecution
The indictment was submitted to the Magistrate Court on Tuesday by police prosecutor Sgt.-Maj. Mahmoud Sabak who wrote:
"The accused found an easy way to break into educational institutions and businesses that do not have a high level of security. This is a sequence of eight cases over a short period of time, which demonstrates the boldness and indifference of the accused, even though he was arrested, warned and released under restrictive conditions."
According to Sabak, "with his actions, he caused insecurity in several towns. People felt they were vulnerable to break-ins and we took it very seriously."