Cash stash in bra stops bullet from piercing heart
Apr 14 2009 06:54PM CST
Police say a wad of cash stuffed in a woman's bra saved her life during a shootout in northeastern Brazil. Salvador city police spokesman Vicente de Paula said 58-year-old Ivonete Pereira de Oliveira was a passenger on a bus that was held up by two gunmen on Saturday.
He said an armed off-duty policeman on the bus opened fire. In the ensuing gun battle a bullet struck the left side of Oliveira's chest.
De Paula said Tuesday that the 150 reals (about $70) worth of bills that Oliveira hid inside her bra slowed the bullet enough to prevent it from entering her heart and killing her instantly.
Oliveira underwent surgery to remove the bullet from her left breast and was released from the hospital on Monday.
The off-duty police officer was killed. According to a police spokesman the officer might be alive if Oliveira had not been wearing a bra. When pressed by reporters, however, he couldn't explain why.
The injured woman was charged with defacing the national currency, a federal crime under Brazilian law.
"If the money had been carried properly, in a purse or wallet, it would have escaped defacement," according to a government spokesman who admitted he didn't know what he was talking about.
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