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Vladivostok Mayor Victor Cherepkov was hit in the head by a bottle during a melee involving allegedly drunk police and bystanders.

A van carrying nine special militia officers collided with a Toyota 4WD near the Lugovaya area recently when it U-turned without using its indicators. While the officers tried to determine the cause of the accident, witnesses supporting the Toyota driver began attacking the police, says the krai internal affairs department.

One civilian beat a cop with a steel rod; the officer received a brain trauma and was hospitalized.

Soon after, Cherepkov arrived, saying citizens had contacted him and asked him to assist. However, he was injured as well. One bystander threw a bottle in the direction of the police, who avoided it. Cherepkov, however, did not move and it hit him in the head.

Cherepkov then locked the officers in the van. Later, he said he did this to avoid further fighting. Leninsky district internal affairs officers soon diffused the situation.

The krain internal affairs department refused to comment on whether the officers in the van were drunk.

The day of the incident, Cherepkov sent a long telegram to General A.S. Kulikov, vice-premier and minister of internal affairs, to seek help in improving relations between civilians and police.

"People don't believe that those who were guilty will be punished," he wrote. "On behalf of Vladivostok's citizens, I am asking you to take measures to call the krai militia authorities to order."