Children Burned in Firebombing

SHERMAN OAKS —  A Molotov cocktail hurled through a second-story window of an apartment complex early Monday sent two children of a family of Israeli emigres to the hospital with serious burns, officials said. They have not determined a motive.

“We don’t know,” said David Liske, an arson investigator with the Los Angeles Fire Department. “At this point, everything’s an option.”

Rafi Moshe, 10, who was rescued by his mother and a neighbor, suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns to about 15% of his body, said Fire Department authorities. His sister, Chaya, 9, jumped out the window into the arms of three men, but not before suffering first-, second- and third-degree burns, also to about 15% of her body.

Rafi was in serious condition and Chaya was in fair condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, fire officials said.

The bombing occurred just after 1 a.m. at the complex--inhabited mostly by Israelis and other Middle East immigrants--in the 5000 block of Woodman Avenue.

Neighbors reported hearing shattering glass and seeing a dark Nissan speeding away from the alley just below the children’s window.

“I heard a boom, like something breaking,” said Sharon Kalfon, 16, a neighbor who had been listening to music with friends.

Kalfon said the children’s mother, Batsheva Moshe, had just arrived at Kalfon’s apartment to borrow a music tape when the bombing occurred.

Another neighbor, Theresa Robles, 22, said she looked out the window of her apartment after the bomb went off and saw the two-door Nissan with at least one man in it speed away.

Batsheva Moshe and Tal Shlomy, 25, who was listening to music with Kalfon, rushed into the Moshe apartment to find the children’s bedroom engulfed in flames.

Rafi had managed to get out of the bedroom, but the clothing near his neck was on fire. Shlomy used his hands to smother the flames.

“When he saw his mother he started screaming,” Shlomy said.

Meanwhile, Chaya, trapped in the room, was being urged by three men in the alley--including Wally Hernandez, 25--to jump out the window.

“She was just quiet,” said Hernandez, who received six stitches on his arm to close a cut he got from broken glass. “She kept looking inside for her brother.”

The girl eventually jumped.

The Moshe family came from Israel several years ago, neighbors said. The husband and wife separated recently, but had maintained a friendly relationship. The husband, known as Danny around the complex, often visited the children.

Batsheva Moshe did not work because Rafi--who attends a special school because he has learning disabilities--has seizures and she is on call constantly, neighbors said. Chaya is a third-grader at Carpenter Avenue Elementary School.

Crime has been nonexistent in the modest complex, neighbors said, except for a robbery a few weeks ago.

One neighbor who declined to be identified said the children’s father may have feared such an attack. The neighbor said that when Danny was called and told of the bombing, he immediately asked if someone had thrown something through the window.

Liske said, however, that preliminary interviews with the family did not indicate that the father, a watch salesman, had any enemies.

A Molotov cocktail is a flammable liquid placed in a container, usually a bottle, with a fuse lighted prior to being tossed, Liske said.

The name given the explosive device refers its use during the Russian Revolution of 1917 against armored vehicles. Liske said it’s not a “signature weapon” for any local group.

Meanwhile, Hernandez and Shlomy were being hailed as heroes at the apartment complex, but the men accepted the accolades with modesty.

“I think anyone would have done it if they were in this position,” Hernandez said.