crime

Driver being chased by police car hits and kills moped rider

21 Comments

Police in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, have arrested a 25-year-old unemployed man who hit and killed a moped rider while he was being pursued by a police car at around 5 a.m. on Sunday. Police said the suspect, Hirotake Nakao, has been charged with dangerous driving resulting in death.

According to police, Nakao did a U-turn and ignored a red light at another intersection, but was seen by a police patrol car which pursued him for about 1.5 kilometers. Nakao’s car fatally struck Naoya Sakamoto, 41, who was riding his moped, at an intersection, and kept going, Sankei Shimbun reported. The police car stopped at the scene of the accident.

At around noon Sunday, Nakao, accompanied by his parents, turned himself in at a police station.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

21 Comments
Login to comment

So why where they pursuing him in the first place?

-18 ( +4 / -22 )

@shogun36

"According to police, Nakao did a U-turn and ignored a red light at another intersection"

How did you miss that?

18 ( +21 / -3 )

Dumbass

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Cities in Japan are not the places for Hollywood style chases which kill people.

Whilst dire infringements are worthy of a ticket, I have noticed that the J-cops will ‘never’ allow an errant motorist to proceed with just a warning.

Could this be the reason why the Japanese public (usually law abiding) are loath to stop?

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

expat Today  03:22 pm JST

Maybe cops should just stop engaging in car chases and set up road blocks, or use data from cameras to find the suspect. Seems every time they pursue someone, somebody is injured or killed.

No, it doesn't happen every time they pursue someone. It only seems that way because such a rare case is the only time it makes the news.

When no one is injured or killed (which is the vast majority of the time), it typically doesn't make the news.

Total responsibility for this fatality rests on the motorist who should have stopped instead of trying to outrun the police. It rests on him alone.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

kurisupisu Today  07:33 pm JST

Whilst dire infringements are worthy of a ticket, I have noticed that the J-cops will ‘never’ allow an errant motorist to proceed with just a warning.

Could this be the reason why the Japanese public (usually law abiding) are loath to stop?

The vast majority of Japanese drivers surely do stop when directed to stop by the police. Why do you seem to think they always run?

There is no excuse. When you see the flashing lights and hear the police car's loudspeaker telling you to pull over, you pull over, period.

If a driver tries to run, and causes an accident, it's entirely and unquestionably the driver's fault. No one else's.

So please, spare the lame excuses.

11 ( +16 / -5 )

Man, that’s someone’s father, husband, son, coworker. He was on his way to work on a Sunday morning.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

It's a refreshing change to see the majority of people blaming the fleeing driver instead of the police for once.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

The police should not continue a pursuit if doing so places others in danger. They have radios and backup, which is to say they can have a roadblock set up. Police in civilized countries cease pursuit in these types of situations. The decision to halt the pursuit is usually based on the speed and setting of the pursuit.

One innocent person killed or injured because the police decided to press a chase is one too many.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

Why do police continue to do this worldwide?

Putting so many lives at risk.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

"No, it doesn't happen every time they pursue someone. It only seems that way because such a rare case is the only time it makes the news."

It should not happen at all.

Granted the person most to blame is the one who recklessly tries to outrun the police. But police cases endanger innocent bystanders and drivers. There has to be an alternative police chases in this day and age.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

RIP the poor guy.

Throw the book at the fleeing driver. Lots of other crimes have strict punishments intended at deterrents. This one is no different.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

The police should not continue a pursuit if doing so places others in danger.

So police should never pursue? There is always a danger in a police pursuit, but that danger is the fault of the fleeing, not the pursuers.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

The driver had already ignored another red light is why he was being stopped by the police in the first place. If the police had not stopped him and he crashed, the police would of been blamed by the same folks who want to blame them for trying to stop them in the first place. Always a catch 22 for some of you.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

oldman_13Today  08:20 am JST

Why do police continue to do this worldwide?

Putting so many lives at risk.

People who do illegal turns and run red lights also put lives at risk so what's the solution?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

cops should have drone squads to pursue fleeing suspects to avoid these crashed

0 ( +1 / -1 )

cops should have drone squads to pursue fleeing suspects to avoid these crashed

Made me laugh but what the heck. I'm all in. Maybe it would work.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Throw the book at him. A pat on the back for the parents for making him do the right thing and hand himself over.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

shogun36Feb. 25  03:43 pm JST

So why where they pursuing him in the first place?

> According to police, Nakao did a U-turn and ignored a red light at another intersection, but was seen by a police patrol car which pursued him for about 1.5 kilometers. 

I dunno! I couldn't tell you even if I knew. smh

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites