Man arrested for assaulting taxi driver and fleeing scene without paying fare

Deport back to Iceland, permanent ban from Japan. ¥1 million compensation paid to the poor, innocent driver before he leaves Japan.

Saw the NEWS footage this morning. The Icelander really let the driver have it! Drunken rage?

That's the LAST thing you wanna do when visiting or working in a foreign country. Deserves whatever punishment he gets.

S

This criminal is dangerous, I don't think the Japanese authorities are going to just deport him without first making him stay a while in a Japanese prison, specially since he apparently have shown no remorse or intention to apologize for his actions.

Lol that sad the man could not afford 3000 yen what a loser

What are the real statistics? What I'm asking is... how many times in a year are people refusing to pay a taxi driver and some sort of a confrontation ensues? If in one year this happens around 1,000 times, with 980 times it being regular domestic Japanese and 20 times foreigners then... hmmm, that would be about equal to the proportion to foreigners vs Japanese in the country. But, if this happens 1,000 times and 200 of the incidents involved foreigners then there is a problem. What the hell are the numbers.... don't throw this crap up without giving us some sort of proportion.

"Icelandic national"? That is not something one sees often.

Iceland? Very cold country? Lock this Icelander in a hot prison and pay him one 10 Yen a day until his taxi fare and the cost of his upkeep in prison is paid up. Then deport him to Iceland & ban his return to Japan.

Hopefully this scumbag now has a permanent ban from ever entering the country again.

tThe only Icelanders I have met have been fantastic!

What a loser! 3000jpy will pay you a 4-5 km ride? If you've drunken all your cash, like the loser you are, at least have the decency to walk home this distance, or sleep it off under a bridge or in a public toilet. Don't go around punching innocent people!

I hope japan requires proof of certain amount of funds for the visitors. People who don’t have money shouldn’t travel internationally.

Iceland is like a village size country with less than 400k population, so it’s normal not to hear about them often.

As an Icelander who has lived in Japan I am appalled that this happened. I hope justice will be served and this man regrets his actions.

Let him sit in jail and work for his plane ticket out after finishing his time in jail, put himon the first plane out. It is these idiots that give foreigners a bad reputation.

As per the article the incident ( crime ) happened at around 10:30 in the morning! Surely, there must have been bystanders around who could have come to the driver’s assistance sooner! Hopefully this violent man is put behind bars ( not a suspended sentence… give him real hard time behind bars ) for a while and then removed from Japan permanently as well as banned for life from entering Japan. This scum spoils the image of Icelandic people who are generally wonderful.

I rarely hear of a foreigner not paying taxi fare in Japan and assaulting a taxi driver like this case. These type of stupid foreigners spoil the trustworthiness of all us foreigners in Japan!

That guy needs to chill out

This has been making the rounds in the Icelandic news and people are angry and shamed. This is not who we want to be or been seen as. Condolences to the cab driver and I hope he recovers fully.

Hope this person gets thrown in jail or permanently deported.

Dear esteemed people of Japan,

In the spirit of kinship and honor, please accept our heartfelt apologies on behalf of the people of Barðaströnd. We trust that justice shall be served upon this disrespectful foe, in accordance with the laws of your lands. If, by the grace of your judgment, he should endure the punishment you bestow, we would humbly offer to take him back, where he may spend the remainder of his life in contemplation and the pursuit of redemption.

Yours in humility,

The people of Barðarströnd

I rarely hear of a foreigner not paying taxi fare in Japan and assaulting a taxi driver like this case. These type of stupid foreigners spoil the trustworthiness of all us foreigners in Japan!

I knew a girl from the UK that used to live here, her brother was visiting and they went up to Tokyo for night. At around 3 in the morning, instead of waiting for 1st train they decided to take a taxi back to southern Kanagawa. the fare was well in excess of 2 man. They were that drunk they decided they were gonna do a runner....so near her house she got the driver to stop, she threw open the door and took off like an Olympic sprinter....unfortunately (for her) her brother had not understood the script and had fallen asleep in the back! :D The taxi driver, got out, woke the brother up and frog marched him to his sister's house and then the both of them to the ATM where he got his money!

Of all the drugs in the world that has probably killed more people and damaged more lives alcohol is in the top 5 for sure.

Alcohol is not a drugs!

Alcohol is not a drugs!

Umm... it certainly is.

It's just that society has been conditioned to think that it isn't. You are a prime example of that.

S

Knew a guy who used to get taxi's about once a week knowing fine he had 500yen on him. He would be super drunk anyway, claim he had no money or way of getting money and the taxi driver could take the 500yen or nothing. He did this a whole bunch of times until one driver just drove him to the police station and got him banged up. The supervisor for our Uni bailed him out with no charges. He was also really aggressive but I don't think he ever punched anyone.

if a passenger does not pay the driver has to pay. Stealing food off his table.

Some additional information from Japanese News: The guy is huge, a good foot over the taxi driver. The driver stood no chance. He also took off the drivers glasses and threw them before punching him. The taxi driver actually tried to follow the guy on foot but got hit again. The guy will probably not face prison time, it is rare to issue prison time for assault.

Naturalboke

Ruddy hell, if that account is accurate it’s definite prison time.

What a ghastly thing to do, the man is a bully and a yobbo.

Rare to get prison time for assault, but not paying money (or a fare in this case) along with assault is a much more severe crime. Similar to 'armed robbery' under UK laws :-(

Back on topic please.

Lol that sad the man could not afford 3000 yen what a loser

That's what I was thinking. I'm not wealthy but 3000 yen is peanuts in this day and age. Hope he gets a suitable punishment for his crime.