Keystone Kops Affair: Spanish Mayor Escapes

A mayor campaigning for reelection in a village in northeast Spain and three of his friends narrowly escaped death when police opened fire on them after mistaking them for armed criminals.

Bertomeu Plana told reporters that he and three other men were putting up posters outside a bank Tuesday night when they were approached by two plainclothes policemen.

Thinking the policemen were criminals, Plana and his friends jumped into their car and sped away as the two police officers opened fire, riddling the car with bullets.

Plana said he and his friends, none of whom was injured, drove to the nearest police station to report that two armed criminals were on the rampage in the area, only to be told the men were actually policemen on the lookout for an armed gang from a nearby town.