Neapolitan city police
launched a major stop-and-search operation in the historic
centre of the port city Monday after bystanders prevented a
police patrol arresting a group of young thugs, police said.
The patrol was allegedly roughed up by passers-by Sunday
night in the town of Giugliano outside Naples after they chided
a group of youngsters and then sought to hold them for
questioning when they hurled insults at the officers.
The police were surrounded by a 'baby gang' of teenage
hoods and a group of passers-by described by Giugliano Mayor
Antonio Poziello as "pseudo-respectable, people who are quick to
criticise and then to behave differently".
A policewoman in the patrol was injured during the incident
and required medical treatment.
Meanwhile in Giugliano and in the centre of Naples the
entire municipal police force led by their commanding officer,
Maria Rosaria Petrillo, combed the narrow streets stopping
suspicious youngsters in a show of force.
"What is most sickening is that presumably respectable
people helped these thugs to escape," said Poziello.
photo: Poziello
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