On 20 March 2005, two assaults on Palestinians were reported to the Israeli police regarding a shepherd, and a farmer,Abu Shehada, engaged in ploughing a clover field on his own land. As a result of an investigation four settlers, including Ran, were indicted and Ran was placed under house arrest, which he violated with impunity. In August 2005, he went into hiding when Israeli police were trying to track him down. Tried in Kfar Saba's Magistrate's Court in 2006, three were acquitted, including Ran: the other had pleaded guilty in exchange for an early release from detention. Ran, who had been held in custody for five months, and had originally admitted in a deposition that he had indeed attacked the plaintiff, claimed the land was his own, a charge which the presiding judge said could not be verified, while blaming the police for failing to investigate the claims. He changed his testimony denying any assault had taken place, (Although his statement to the police was laconic and did not correspond to the other defendants' testimonies, (Nava) Bechor said his testimony gave the impression of being reliable and coherent, and provided a reasonable explanation for giving the police a false statement.') and was acquitted on the specific charge of beating up a Palestinian farmer and damaging his tractor by ripping out its wiring.