A demonstrator from the Black Bloc anarchist group throws a Molotov cocktail at a burning bus during a protest against Sao Paulo’s Governor Geraldo Alckmin in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013. Protesters are demanding a free public transportation system. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
SAO PAULO (AP) — Law enforcement officials say protesters beat up a police colonel and stole his service pistol and radio during a Friday night demonstration demanding lower public transportation fares in Brazil’s largest city.
The Sao Paulo state police department said in a statement posted Saturday on its website that the demonstration turned violent when so-called Black Bloc anarchists shattered store windows and destroyed ATM machines, turnstiles and other installations at one of the city’s biggest bus terminals.
The statement said about a dozen protesters attacked Col. Reynaldo Rossi, knocked him to the ground and broke his collarbone.
Police have not recovered Rossi’s .40-caliber pistol or his radio.
Anger over the cost of poor public transportation services has helped fuel massive protests that have hit several cities since June.
