Officers suspended for beating joyrider
After a week in which three policemen were separately charged with armed bank robbery, car theft and human trafficking, the force suffered a new embarrassment yesterday with two Athens officers suspended for allegedly beating up a teenage French joyrider. The action against Efstratios Halaris and Vassilios Tritsas followed the screening, on Alpha TV on Thursday night, of video footage showing five officers hitting the 16-year-old, who was arrested in a stolen car after a chase early on Thursday. The attack, in the Piraeus area of Pasalimani, was captured on video by a local resident. The teenager, along with another four 15- and 16-year-old French boys, was charged yesterday with stealing five cars between April 6-11 in the Piraeus area, which they abandoned shortly afterwards. All five were on a yachting tour of Greece under a French government program for young offenders. The two social workers escorting the youths were charged with negligence in handling their charges. A full investigation has been ordered into the attack.
