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Mayor's aide bites cop over Lisbon traffic dispute

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-14 08:56

A top municipal official in Lisbon's Oeiras suburb sank his teeth into a traffic police officer during a discussion over a fine, apparently enraged by the familiar form used by the officer to address him.

Police said on Monday Esequiel Lino, an aide to the mayor of Oeiras, had come to the police station to protest his daughter's car being towed away by police.

"He started verbally abusing the officers, kicking the desk and was warned several times, but it didn't stop him. He went on and ended up biting one of the officers in the arm, and had to be detained," a police spokeswoman said.

The officer had to be treated in a hospital.

The Diario de Noticias daily quoted a police source as saying the official had become infuriated when a young policeman, telling him to stop shouting, addressed the 64-year-old using the familiar form of "you," without the honorific "sir."

Lino's responsibilities in the mayor's administration include links with the municipal police.