Shaimos truck stolen

DeahVedibur: Through joint efforts by the police and IDF and with the help of chareidi public figures, a truck belonging to Vaad Hagenizoh Hakloli was located a short time after it was stolen from the Atarot Industrial Zone north of Jerusalem. As two Vaad Hagenizoh volunteers were preparing to clear large sacks using the truck's crane in Atarot, two young Arabs leaped onto the truck and drove off with it within seconds. The two volunteers began to pursue the truck in another vehicle but, driving at high speed, the thieves managed to escape from sight, apparently with the help of a Palestinian in another truck who interfered with the chase. The two volunteers immediately notified the police and a vehicle locating company, Ituran, which immediately said that the truck was in Bir Navalah, a village north of Atarot in the Ramallah area. A short time later, Ituran computers reported that the truck was again in motion and eventually it stopped in the village of A-Ram, also north of Atarot. Israel police were involved in tracking the truck but as soon as it was found in a Palestinian village, Judea and Samaria District Police said the military would have to be summoned to enter the village and recover the truck. Vaad Hagenizoh Hakloli contacted Jerusalem Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky, Deputy Mayor Rabbi Uri Maklev and MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni. Following conversations with Palestinian officials and with the help of Rabbi Yekutiel Vizner, it was decided to send in a military force to recover the truck. A few hours after the theft an IDF force consisting of several jeeps entered the village and located the truck within minutes. The driver was asked for the keys but the thieves had already managed to sabotage the locator system, rendering the truck inoperable after wreaking havoc to the wiring system. Soldiers guarded the truck for hours until a police tow truck arrived late into the night to transport it to a repair shop. A Vaad Hagenizoh spokesman said that valuable equipment stolen from the truck was not recovered and the expensive repairs of the damage caused by the thieves is only partially covered by insurance.