Police officers injured in Athens attack
Two patrol officers were injured on Thursday night when they came under attack after stopping two drunk men in a car on the corner of Athens's Kifissou and Petrou Ralli.
According to Friday's police report, the two suspects were listening to loud music and behaving erratically when the officers, who were in a patrol car, signaled the driver to pull over to the side of the road for an inspection.
The driver and his passenger responded by throwing rocks at the officers as they stepped out of their squad car, with reports suggesting that other people in the vicinity also started pelting the officers with whatever projectiles they could get their hands on.
The assault ended after one of the officers shot his service revolver in the air.
On Friday, the head of the union representing special guards in the Greek Police (ELAS) said that the squad car's radio was not working when the officers called for assistance. Instead, one of the two officers had to use his cell phone to call the dispatch office.
Speaking on Antenna TV, Stratos Mavroidakos said that the attack was likely prompted by the fact that one of the two suspects, who are both residents of a Roma camp near where the incident occurred, recognized one of the patrolmen as having arrested him on a prior occasion. He also claimed that the other people involved in the assault had come over from the camp.
One of the officers was being treated on Friday for a broken arm and the other for a cut to his head.
