GUATEMALA CITY (AP) -- Five people were arrested after a mob of 1,000
                 Indians attacked a police station in rural northern Guatemala on Tuesday,
                 reducing the outpost to ruins and burning five police cars.

                 No officers were injured in the uprising, authorities said.

                 Locals in and around the mountain village of Concepcion Huista, 220 miles (350
                 kilometers) north of Guatemala City, became enraged when police failed to make an
                 immediate arrest in the case of a local man, Juan Carlos Castillo, who was shot and
                 killed while walking along the region's main highway early Monday, said police
                 spokesman Ricardo Gatica.

                 Hundreds of people began congregating around the region's only police station
                 shortly after midnight Tuesday. After several hours of demonstrations, at least
                 1,000 protesters stormed the outpost, forcing a small contingent of police officers
                 inside to run for their lives, Gatica said.

                 The mob set the station on fire and used the building's desk chairs and typewriters
                 to batter five police cars before setting them ablaze.

                 Dozens of officers rushing to the aid of the besieged station collared five people
                 accused of masterminding the uprising, Gatica said.

                 By Tuesday afternoon the mob had disbanded. In the aftermath of the uprising,
                 local police director Elmer Aguilar said the mob destroyed more than $125,000
                 worth of property and announced that all police officers and other state forces
                 would abandon the area for an indefinite period of time.

                 Local radio reports said many involved in the uprising believed police officers were
                 responsible for Castillo's slaying because the caliber of bullet used to kill him
                 matched bullets issued to police officers.

                 Gatica said police had nothing to do with Castillo's death.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.