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Police in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, have arrested a 38-year-old firefighter on suspicion of stealing a wallet from a drunk man while he was being taken home in an ambulance.
According to police, the 44-year-old unemployed man called 119 at around 12:10 a.m. on Nov 5 to ask for help as he got too drunk to walk. Fuji TV reported that the suspect, Yoshiaki Hazumi, and other firefighters arrived at the scene with an ambulance.
The drunk man was put in the ambulance and driven home, accompanied by Hazumi.
Hazumi was later seen on video footage at a convenience store in Kawasaki, using an IC card belonging to the man he put in the ambulance. Hazumi was quoted as saying he found the IC card but denied stealing the man's wallet.
Police said it is unusual for an ambulance to take someone back home.
© Japan Today
14 Comments
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Laguna
Ambulance use is excessive in this country. The firefighter should be punished, but the drunk should be charged the full cost of the service call for his ride home - otherwise, the taxpayers shoulder it.
smartacus
Do firefighters normally ride in ambulances? Aren't there paramedics? And since when did ambulances become taxis for drunks? Why couldn't the ambulance driver or one of the firefighters put him in a taxi and send him home?
zones2surf
One word: idiot!
daito_hak
Priceless....
descendent
If being drunk in public was a crime, the police would be very busy indeed.
A.N. Other
Quit complaining. When I was an infant, the paediatrician stuck his thermometer in my backside.
DaDude
Idiots, in order of stupidity- 1. Firefighter 2. man asking for ride home from ambulance 3. The dispatcher sending an ambulance
Monozuki
The drunk man was taken by ambulance to his home? That's quite new to me! I mean, whether it was his intention or not, he ended up using the ambulance as a taxi.
And, yes, the suspect did what decent human-beings - let alone firefighters - shouldn't have, only if this was the fact.
And as for the firefighter, this may not seem like a big time crime, but he would probably have to pay a very high price for what he has done in a lot of ways.
diuneahma
Sad that the fire fighter tarnished the name of his profession
Kobe White Bar Owner
this guys brain is about the same speed as a ambulance. s l o w
TheGodfather
This sounds like a some sort of homosexual fantasy!!
zones2surf
@Brainiac,
As I think you know, ambulances are operated/dispatched by the fire department and are staffed by fire department staff. So, I surmise that is why they are referred to as fire fighters. I think this is just a question of terminology. One would assume that these "fire fighters" are also trained as paramedics. But then again, it is a common view that Japanese ambulances are really nothing more than glorified taxis and that the level of emergency care provided in the ambulances is not the equivalent of what an EMT or paramedic in some countries would provide.
shonanbb
The last ambulance ride I had the attendant stole my thermometer. Maybe I should write this guy.