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A couple in their 20s have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after they dragged a 36-year-old man, who had gotten into an argument with them, about 1.5 kilometers with their car.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward. Fuji TV reported that Yuta Seki, 22, and Ayana Okubo, 21, both unemployed, were in their car when the two got into a quarrel with the man.
The man had been riding his bicycle behind the car when it stopped at a traffic light. The man then got off his bike and went to the front passenger seat side and complained that the music coming from the car was too loud. Seki, who was in the passenger seat, was quoted by police as saying he told Okubo to “just drive and shake off” the man who was holding onto the front passenger seat window. Street surveillance camera footage showed the man clinging to the car window as it drives along at about 40-50 kph.
After about 1.5 kilometers, the car stopped and the man fell to the ground, suffering a head injury.
© Japan Today
31 Comments
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Belrick
Let them go. He could have stayed away from the vehicle. If he's dumb enough to keep hold of a moving vehicle, the occupants are not at fault! Indeed, if it was my car, I'd be fearing for my safety and drive off too!
Steven Fennel
Idiot. He's lucky he only got a head injury. Music was too loud? Grow up.
bjohnson23
Did the passengers grab the cyclists? No
Did the car grab the cyclist?No
Did the cyclist grab the car? Yes,,,
hmmmm....seems he went looking for trouble and found it..seems the girls were scared and took off, can't say I blame them as they didn't this strange weird guy and what he might have done. perhaps the door was locked or else he would have opened it..
Kobe White Bar Owner
"Couple arrested for attempted murder after dragging man 1.5 km by car"
He was holding on to the car though, so how are they guilty... arghh J legal "logic" at work as ever.
sensei258
They put the car in motion after he was attached to it. That's why they're being charged. It's up to the court to decide whether they were Justified because they were in fear of him
commanteer
He wasn't attached to the car. He was hanging on and chose to hang on even after the car started moving, which makes him a fairly scary guy to 2 girls. I can't imagine why the girls were arrested unless there are details not mentioned here.
ksteer
Where do you see two girls? Clearly a couple, Yuta is a boys name... So I doubt they were scared, more like didnt care.
Its normal muscle response to cling onto something that youre holding onto that unexpectedly starts moving, at the point where he realized the car was moving he wouldnt have had time to safely let go. Hence he did the next best thing, hold on.
This isnt anything about J Law logic. This is normal logic anywhere in the first world, does he have a right to hold onto your car? Not really, but they dont have a right to consciously put his life at risk. They consciously chose to drive off while he was holding on, therefore it was premeditated, therefore it can be considered attempted murder.
Mark my words, they'll be found guilty of the charge by the court.
chisineko
Walking up to a car, starting an argument and grabbing on to the car constitutes a threat. The two could have been killed in event.
Blattamexiguus
He should be charged with threatening behavior
Blattamexiguus
It’s weird here sometimes.
cop friend told me that if I’m attacked and robustly defend myself I could be open to assault charges.
apparently self defense is a weak legal defense.
rainyday
It’s surprising how quick almost everyone is to jump to the conclusion that the victim is at fault. I just watched the video, the car is basically driving along like any other car ar full speed, except it had a guy hanging on for his life. There is no way they weren’t trying to do him serious injury there.
If you watch the news report it says they were arguing about a traffic incident so it is entirely possible that the guy had every right to be complaining to them and the music might have only been part of a bigger picture. Without wishing to judge a book by its cover if you see the unemployed guy they arrested and the Japanese he used it is entirely plausible that he cut someone off, then in a fit of rage told his gf to speed off when the guy leaned on their car while complaining about said incident.
farhaan
In simple logic it should be opposite. Victim should be a culprit and vice versa. That moron has no right to hold someone's car by force.
Most strangest and stupid law on earth.
maybeperhapsyes
What a fool. Dissatisfied with his lot and looking for anything to complain about.
Deserved all he got in my opinion.
Case closed.
half-hearted jumper
Not sure where some of you are getting "2 girls" from. It was a 22 year old guy and his 21 year old girlfriend...
Giveme_abreak
Since the man on the bicycle could not make a statement due to severe head injury, I'm guessing that the couple did not really tell the whole story because I highly doubt that the guy was just complaining about the music & it maybe possible that Yuta suggested to just drive off even though the guy is still talking to them.
This is reckless imprudence.
sensei258
@commanteer - attached it's just semantics don't get wrapped around the axle
FizzBit
Music is one thing, but some cars have those idiotic boom speakers that disturb the peace. Good on this man for calling out a couple of unemployed losers, who can still own a car and pay insurance.
i hope this hero recovers.
sir_bentley28
First of all, don't touch my car. Secondly, depending on how you ask someone to turn down their music will show the outcome of your request. If he came up aggressively and demanded that they turn down their music, well......we all know how that turned out. Sometimes "guns a-blazin'" isn't the best approach.
nakanoguy01
i wonder if the cyclist also goes up to those black vans and tells them to turn down the volume. that's a much more egregious assualt on the ear drums than loud music.
Aly Rustom
I agree with the majority of the posters here.
Exactly. Or the campaign trucks that blare out the candidates' names in the early hours of the morning. But no he wouldn't dare.
He was picking on 2 people he thought he could intimidate. He got less than what he deserved. He's an idiot, a bully, and I hope that head injury teaches him a lesson. Twat.
Belrick
I like how my comment in support of the car occupants gets so many negatives, but others don't. JT reader logic!
Kobe White Bar Owner
@rainyday, care to share a link to the video?
HARRYO
Seems to me the couple in the car were just trying to get away for safety reasons. If the music was to loud for the bike rider all he had to do was wait for the light to change and go on his merry way. Besides why did he hold onto the window after the car started to drive off ??? Not so smart on his part. I wonder if his head bounced a few times on the pavement ??? Aspirin anyone ..
Haruka
If I was frightened by some maniac grabbing my car because he did not like my music, I would have stepped on the gas too.
shogun36
This happened on a Tuesday at around 1 PM?
Maybe everyone involved should get a job and this kind of thing wouldn't have happened in the first place. Sounds like everyone was at fault. Lessons to be learned from this, don't blast terrible music and don't hang on to people's car door when they are driving.
My question is, what happened to the bike?
Alex Einz
Hopefully the couple is jailed for a looong while and pay proper reparations.
having a car comes with responsibilities, it is basically attempted vehicular murder... hopefully 40+ years in the tiny cell!
commanteer
Not just semantics as it's crucial to your point. If some lunatic is grabbing my car and shouting at me through a window, I will drive off as well. If he continues to hang on as I drive, I might conclude he is crazier than I thought, and be tempted to drive faster.
Hard to say how anyone might react, as the situation as it's described here is quite odd.
Raw Beer
So basically, the judge is saying that if some crazy guy attacks you, you are not allowed to drive away. An idiot judge if you ask me.
thepersoniamnow
How unfair! Stupid old man.
Raw Beer
... I can only imagine them being arrested for attempted murder if the passenger grabbed the guy. But it appears that is not the case.