A stolen vehicle slammed into a raised security barrier at the Al-Jib crossing near Jerusalem early Sunday morning, ending a high-speed chase through the capital's outskirts. The driver, an 18-year-old resident of east Jerusalem, was pulled from the wreckage and arrested by Border Guard forces and Jerusalem District police.
The incident began before dawn when police identified a vehicle suspected of being stolen and began pursuit. Officers broadcast repeated orders for the driver to stop, but he ignored them and continued driving erratically in an attempt to escape.
Information about the fleeing vehicle was relayed immediately to Border Guard forces manning the Al-Jib crossing. The troops made a rapid decision to activate the checkpoint's hydraulic bollards, steel posts that rise from the roadway, to block the vehicle's escape route entirely.
Security camera footage from the checkpoint and body-camera video from the forces on the ground, released by police, show the suspect vehicle approaching the crossing at high speed. The car strikes the raised bollards with tremendous force, sending a shower of sparks into the air as the front bumper and other parts are torn off and fly in all directions. The vehicle comes to an immediate stop.
Armed Border Guard troops and police officers rush the vehicle, pull the suspect out, and take him into custody. The suspect was transferred to the Lev HaBirah station in the Jerusalem District for questioning. The vehicle was towed from the scene for forensic examination as part of the ongoing investigation.
