This happened in Rome last tuesday:

More in these picture galleries from italian newspaper here and here… At the end of the day Police has arrested 22 people (only).
This morning the court has ruled to set everybody free.
In 2006 70,000 cars were towed away in Rome.
In 2009 36,000 cars were towed away in Rome.
Learning how to behave? No. The local Police had just cut off bonus for every car towed. (link)
“These are dark-skinned people, not Europeans like you and me,” said Riccardo De Corato, who is Milan’s vice mayor from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling party.
Paferrobyday, an italian blog, point to the Washington Post that writes about Italy’s approach towards the Gipsies and foreign immigrants. Italy seems to be in the flow of a widespread european anti Gypsies raising tide, although the paper point out some differences between an strict approach in Milan and a softer one in Rome.