A police officer's car was stolen while he was on a stakeout in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefectural police said.
According to police, the 28-year-old officer was staking out a home in Tsurumi Ward in a rental car at around 10 p.m. on Monday when a gang of four men took the vehicle by force, Fuji TV reported.
The officer said one of the gang opened the driver's door and elbowed him in the face. He said he was then pulled out of the vehicle by other men while one of them got in and drove the car away. The three other assailant fled in another car, Fuji reported.
Police notebooks, two satchels and some other documentation were stolen in the incident, but later recovered from a nearby river. The officer sustained a minor cut to his lip. The stolen car was found a few hours later in a nearby car park.
Police say they have not yet ruled out the possibility that the four men, aged in their 30s and 40s, were among those under investigation in the stakeout.
© Japan Today
31 Comments
Login to comment
multitasker
Oh, the hilarity that is OUR nation`s police force! Was he sleeping? Using his unSmartphone? Pulling his monkey? DETAILS!!
Ronald F Stark
A rental car? The J-stones don't have unmarked cars for stake-outs?
Badge213
Detectives and certain other officers, unlike their koban counterparts are generally unarmed.
rickyvee
hint to police officers: it mostly likely was the suspects under investigation.
WilliB
Sometimes you have to love our local J-cop stories. This one is hilarous. Not that I approve of crime, but in this case, high-five to the car thief.
shogun36
he probably left the car running while he went into the combini to buy something like all the other morons
darknuts
He should have locked the door. I always keep my doors lock so someone can't just throw me out of the vehicle.
WilliB
Oh, now I read the article. Misleading headline... so the car wasn´t stolen, he was attacked and pulled out of his car. Well, in that case it is pretty obvious that they he was observer were not happy about that.
nath
The person who was being staked probably realized and called his friends and they did the dirty deed.
Frungy
I should give lectures on basic safety procedure to the cops:
Lock your doors.
Stay alert.
If someone suspicious approaches your vehicle then start the engine. A 1000kg car is a fearsome weapon.This cop manages a 3-point failure.
Resurfaced
Cool... sounds like some Japanese gangs do have the balls to get the cops off their tail. But nonetheless dumb if the same people who were getting staked out did the crime because that is assaulting a police officer which has a dear price tag.
Laurenço Iscariot Shells
Not much of a stakeout when the bad guys find you and well... make you look really unsmart
avigator
He was either reading or watching his favorite manga or anime program, or watching AKB-48. I would shoot first and ask questions later.
kingston
I keep wondering, Don't tell me that he's the only one doing the staking.
ebonyninja
Surprised they didn't take his gun too! Makes the average citizen feel really safe! (smile). Crime is on the rise in Japan, and the police are sleeping!
Alex Tokyo
Once an unmarked car is made, it can't be used again for stakeouts unless it is modified, repainted, etc. Huge hassle. Plus, anyone with connections can run the plate of a car and find out who or what organization the vehicle belongs to, and whether that person actually exists, their personal details if they do, etc.
Rentals can be easily identified by their plates, since all rentals have the same hiragana character, and of course they will always come back as a legit rental car registered to "Toyota Rent-A-Car Lease", for example. Common sense. Much less suspicious.
supermonk7
LOL... yakuza payback.
Alex Tokyo
Yet another well-thought out gem from a hard-of-thinking JT regular. Damn carjackers and their 300m long extendable arms that can reach down streets and round corners and through automatic doors to blindly elbow conbini shoppers in the face with aggressive pinpoint accuracy.
Yeah. Sounds plausible.
wontond
Instead of sirens blaring, police cruisers should have the theme to the Benny Hill Show going off. Some of these stories are too comical.
nath
This says it all... If anyone still had a shred doubt as to JCops (JOops for short) competency you need not read any further...
Lt. Frank Drebin....... Detective Lieutenant Police Squad!
nath
I have even less respect for these clowns now, after reading this. I didn't think that could be possible.
Mirai Hayashi
Only in Japan
Dennis Bauer
@Alex Tokyo
So the staked criminals only have to check if there is a white (mostly they are white) rental car to find out if there is police watching them, next time use confiscated cars!
nath
What's the use of staking out suspects if the suspects know who and where the cops are? Why not just arrange for appointments and lunch-out together?
Alex Tokyo
A rental car could be anyone, that's the point.
Using confiscated cars is too risky for a number of reasons. "Hey boss, remember that time we went down to Kobe to discuss import operations, and one of the guys had a burgundy Majesta with steel wheels? It's parked outside."
nath
Really? Cops using a rental car on a stakeout?
cl400
Noooo.... really? Where's that octopus that predicted the world cup winners a few years back?
HonestDictator
My question is can the officer identify the perps in a line up and did he give a full and accurate description of them?
komuso killa
This is the kind of news that I like reading about.
Redcliff
Sound like it comes from a comedy movie. Maybe they should change their policy to have two cops on stake out duty. At least if one fall asleep the other can call for reinforcement.
Alex Tokyo
How is using rental cars NOT common sense? It could genuinely be anyone.