Rough Justice Leaves Thief Naked Downtown, August 21, 2001 8:57 am EST

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish youth caught shoplifting was stripped and dumped naked in the center of the city of Szczecin with "I am a thief" written on his back, local police reported.

The summary justice was doled out Monday by unknown men driving a Mercedes with blacked-out windows who were called by staff at the supermarket in the north-western city after the 19-year-old was caught trying to steal a sweatshirt.

"The youth refused to cooperate with the police and since we had no official complaint from any supermarket we couldn't take any action against him," local police spokesman Artur Marciniak said. "But depriving someone of their freedom is illegal."

Commercial premises in Poland are often forced to seek paid protection from gangsters, either because they lack confidence in the police or for fear of attack.

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2001