Seven teens were arrested Saturday over the Independence Day killing of 21-year old pizzeria worker Yemanu Binyamin Zelka in Petah Tikva after he asked a group of youths to stop spraying party foam in the restaurant, police said.

Officers simultaneously raided several homes early Saturday to arrest the suspects and gather further evidence, according to police. The main suspect, aged 15, was arrested in an apartment where he was hiding in central Israel after officers broke in and then chased him down after he tried to flee.

His suspect’s parents have also been detained on suspicion of trying to tamper with the investigation by apparently trying to hide their son, police said.

The minors “conducted themselves like veteran criminals” since the killing early on Wednesday, having turned off their phones and stayed away from their homes to avoid getting caught, according to police sources cited by Hebrew media.

The seven suspects are reportedly aged 13 to 17, some of whom are already known to police, including one suspect who hails from a crime family. Haaretz reported that some of the suspects attend the same school.

There identities and further details of the case were not released in accordance with a partial gag order on the case.

Police said they would be brought before a judge later Saturday to have their remand extended.

Zelka was on shift at a Pizza Hut restaurant in the Kfar Ganim neighborhood at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, when he approached a group of teenagers who were acting disruptively and using the party spray popular with children and teens on Independence Day.

After Zelka politely asked them to stop, the teens waited outside for him to finish his shift, and then attacked him when he left the building, according to Hebrew media reports and a statement by Petah Tikva Mayor Rami Greenberg. Zelka died of his wounds at the central city’s Beilinson Hospital on Thursday.

Media reports said some 10 minors were involved in the incident and that police have security camera footage of the assault. According to the Kan public broadcaster, one of the minors stabbed Zelka while the others beat or watched the victim. An eyewitness quoted by the Ynet news site said it was clear from the attackers’ gait that they were drunk.

Police sources cited by Haaretz said officers arrived on the scene shortly after Zelka was stabbed in what they thought was a brawl. Only about 36 hours later, on Thursday, did local police realize the severity of the incident and refer the investigation to the regional serious crimes unit, the sources said.

Following Zelka’s death, neighbors lit candles and placed messages of support outside his workplace. His family said he was a “pure, innocent child,” and he was remembered as well-liked, humble and hardworking by the Petah Tikva yeshiva high school, where he was a student and the religious youth group where he was a counselor.

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2 Pizzeria worker stabbed to death by teens on Independence Day after asking them not to use party spray

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