‘Sword attacker’ arrested

AMMAN — Police on Wednesday announced the arrest of a man who perportedly appeared in a video clip attacking a taxi driver with a sword in Zarqa Governorate a day earlier.

The suspect appeared in a video clip that went viral waving a sword and striking the arm of a taxi driver following a minor altercation with the cab driver in one of Zarqa’s streets on Tuesday morning.

Bystanders and a woman, who was with him in the vehicle, interfered and pushed him away from the taxi. The suspect was then seen getting into his car and leaving the area.

“We have arrested the suspect late Tuesday night following a complaint by the taxi driver,” Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

The police official said investigators reviewed a surveillance camera records that caught the incident “after a video clip surfaced on social media”.

“We were able to locate the suspect and arrest him on Tuesday night without any major incident,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The police official added that a sword “found in the possession of the suspect was seized and sent to the criminal lab for further analysis”.

Officials have said yesterday that the suspect’s mother was also arrested and referred to the prosecutor for questioning on false and malicious charges after claiming that the “taxi driver attacked her”.

The taxi driver was treated for a deep-cut wound and broken bones to his arm.

Social media users have voiced their outrage over the incident by condemning the act and questioning why the man who appeared in the video clip possessed a sword in his vehicle to start with.