WATCH: Israeli police arrest Arab bride in wedding dress as wanted groom flees

The groom, suspected of threatening a police officer with a weapon, has a criminal record.

By Debbie Reiss, World Israel News

Police arrested an Arab-Israeli bride during her wedding Sunday in the northern town of Arraba after the groom, who is suspected of brandishing a weapon in front of a police officer, fled the scene through an open window.

A video shows police officers escorting the woman in a wedding gown and veil into a car.

According to police, the groom, suspected of possession of weapons, had violated a restraining order to stay away from the town in order to attend his wedding.

“We searched for the groom for a long period of time, without results. He insisted on having the wedding and ‘didn’t give a damn’ to anyone. The police intelligence officers were alerted that the groom was at the wedding, he noticed the arrival of the police and apparently escaped through the window,” police sources told Ynet.

The groom, 32, has a criminal record and has served a prison sentence. The bride, in her early 20s, was detained for questioning but not arrested, and is suspected of obstruction of justice and of helping her new husband escape.

“They ruined the happiest day of my life,” the bride told Channel 12. “As for the suspicions, I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

One of the wedding attendees told Ynet that “the behavior of the police was inappropriate. They could have waited until after the wedding to make the arrest. This is a particularly serious act, and the use of stun grenades scared children and women.”

Another resident of the town said, “We didn’t know what happened there. We thought it was a murder, and we were at a wedding and not a criminal event. The police made a mistake.”

Arab crimeArab IsraelisIsrael Police