Teenage boy stabs policeman during street patrol

A 15-year-old boy stabbed a policeman in the northern Peloponnese town of Aigio in the early hours of Tuesday while trying to elude a check on the motorcycle he was riding, police said.

The officer was on patrol when he tried to stop the motorcycle because it did not have license plates and inquire as to the identity of the 15-year-old passenger and the driver, another boy also aged 15.

The driver sped off and tried to elude capture by driving through narrow alleyways and crashing into the patrol car when the police officer tried to approach them on foot at a dead-end. As the officer attempted to arrest the two teens, the passenger punched and stabbed him in the chest, missing his heart by inches.

The officer allegedly fired his gun once in the air to stop the attack and was helped by a civilian to apprehend the driver of the motorcycle, who also violently resisted arrest. The passenger, who is being sought for stabbing the officer, managed to escape.

The parents of both the teens have been arrested for neglecting to supervise their children.

The police officer is reportedly in stable condition at a hospital in the western port town of Patra.