Two Italian police face a brutality row after tasering and incapacitating an Abruzzo fishmonger and allegedly pushing his wife to the ground after he left his car parked in a no parking zone.
The incident happened in the centre of Vasto when the two agents allegedly grappled with the couple and immobilised the fishmonger using allegedly overly heavy handed tactics.
Bystanders filmed the altercation and the video has gone viral, spurring widepread criticism of the cops who have been likened to American police and their take no prisoners approach.
Politicians have also weighed in.
Maurizio Acerbo, leader of the Communist Refoundation party, said "I think the agents must be suspended from duty immediately. Are we in Los Angeles?" The officers' lawyer said they had not used the electronic dart of the taser but only its sound alert and said they would sue anyone repeating "defamatory slurs" against them.
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