Some latent public anger against police is bubbling up in China.

The latest incident occurred last Friday in Shenzhen, and the repercussions still are rippling.

According to both Chinese and foreign news accounts, motorcyclist Li Guochao was killed on Friday after a fled a checkpoint. Li was driving an unlicensed cycle. One of the employees at the checkpoint – apparently not a police officer but a civilian municipal worker – tossed a walkie talkie at him as he sped away.

The walkie talkie hit Li in the head, and he promptly ran into a telephone pole, dying hours later in the hospital.

According to news wire accounts here and here, hundreds of people gathered outside a police station and threw rocks. Someone set a police car ablaze. Thousands looked on.

The police later offered Li’s family a cash payment of about $29,000 to resolve the matter, according to state media.

This incident follows another on July 1 in which a 28-year-old accused bicycle thief went into a Shanghai police precinct on a stabbing spree, killing six officers and wounding four others. The man, Yang Jia, later became a bit of an internet sensation when some citizens suggested his rage at police may have been understandable.

Yang had been picked up over the alleged theft of a bicycle last year, and one report said police beat him.

When Yang appealed his death sentence three weeks ago, supporters showed up outside the courthouse wearing T-shirts with his likeness. Police dispersed them. Yang’s death sentence was upheld.

But there is also a case that may uphold the opposite view – that the public sympathizes with police when powerful people try to get away with bad behavior or even crime.

In a case last month, six police officers beat to death Lin Songling outside a bar in Harbin in northeastern China. At first, it seemed like a possible case of police abuse. But later reports suggested Lin had repeatedly hit police first, including throwing a concrete block at one, saying he was well-connected to party officials in Harbin. This story says two officers may yet be charged in the death. But in the court of public opinion, the verdict was mixed. Maybe Lin wasn’t so well-connected, and maybe police did overstep their authority.