MOSCOW () -- A carload of thugs chose the wrong car to pick on in a traffic dispute, and the plainclothes policeman behind the wheel shot them dead, a newspaper reported Wednesday.


In a weekend incident, a Jeep Grand Cherokee forced the policeman's Russian-made sedan to stop, and the men inside the Jeep accused the officer of cutting them off. Then they broke his car's headlights, the daily Segodnya said.


When the officer identified himself as a member of the Moscow police department fighting organized crime and drew his gun, the men slapped him and smashed his windshield, Segodnya said.


He then killed one and wounded the other, who later died in a hospital. Authorities identified both as members of Moscow's notorious Solntsevo gang.