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Woman knocked off scooter by duct tape stretched across road

39 Comments

A woman in Kanagawa Prefecture, sustained minor injuries after she was knocked off her scooter by a strip of duct tape that had been suspended across a road, police said Tuesday.

According to police, the woman was knocked off of her motorbike in Fujisawa at around 1 a.m. on Monday by a line of duct tape that had been secured around two roadside poles, TBS reported.

Doctors say the victim, who injured her back and sustained several minor injuries in the incident, was lucky to escape with her life.

Police say the incident is reminiscent of events that occurred in Inzai and Musashimurayama around four years ago. In the first incident, a high school girl was knocked off of her bicycle and sustained a fractured skull. In the second incident, four 19-year-olds were arrested after they tied a length of rope across a public road, knocking a woman in her 20s off of her motorbike. The woman was seriously injured in the crash and the youths were arrested on charges of attempted murder, police said.

The individual or individuals responsible for this latest incident are wanted for assault, police said.

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39 Comments
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So when it's American kids outside a US base it's attempted murder, but when it's not it's not?

Smith, I though the very same thing. Double standards at work here. Unless, of course, it turns out the perpetrators are foreign nationals. In which case, I'd venture to guess the charge of "attempted murder" might very well find a place on the table.

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@smithinjapan No one knows what the eventual charges might be until they are actually brought. It is very possible that a suspect may be arrested on simple assault charges, held for 23 days without an indictment, rearrested on aggrevated assault charges, held for 23 days without an indictment, rearrested on criminal negligence leading to death charges, held for 23 days without an indictment, rearrested on attempted murder charges and then actually charged after another 23 days once the prosecutor has had 3 months to build the case.

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@smith

I can't speak for the prosecutors in either case, but the "murder" in English implies intent to kill. so Frungy's statement:

If the action, in the opinion of a reasonable man, and backed up by expert testimony (because sometimes the average Joe is wrong), would have resulted in death then the only logical charge is attempted murder.

is clearly wrong. If I fire a gun at a tree in a forest at night, and someone gets their head in the way of the bullet, then obviously my action (would have) resulted in death, but I was shooting at a tree, not a person. It's not murder.

If the prosecution can't prove that the accused set out with an intention to actually kill, then it's a case of manslaughter or death by misadventure etc.

Not my opinion, it's the law.

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somebody's been watching waaay too much youtube..

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USNinJapan2: "It was four dependents from Yokota AFB out of which one 19 year-old was charged with bodily injury and obstruction of traffic back in 2009."

Yes, I know -- and what was the sentence sought by the prosecution? and why is it not the same here are the questions.

lucabrasi: "Look up "murder" in the dictionary and then consider why your statement above is wrong."

Now you're just twisting words. As in intelligent person I would think you can differentiate between 'murder' and 'ATTEMPTED murder'? Why push for the latter in one case and not in another unless they know for a fact in one case the boys wanted to murder the woman who was injured?

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I hear ya, Thon. I've come close to getting roped a few times at empty parking lots at night. They really make no effort for nighttime visibility.

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bosozoku ride bikes, no way they would do that

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smithinjapan

It was four dependents from Yokota AFB out of which one 19 year-old was charged with bodily injury and obstruction of traffic back in 2009.

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Initial arrests are often made in japan on relatively minor but almost airtight crimes (i.e. abandonment of a corpse in what is ultimately a murder case). This allows the police to extend the time they can hold suspects before charges have to be filed by subsequently re-arresting on more serious crimes.

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AustPaul and Lucabrasi: "I concur lucabrasi.. If the intent or recklessness to murder someone was not there how can they be charged with attempted murder?"

You guys obviously missed part of the point. A similar incident, which is mentioned in the article, occurred in Okinawa and was committed by Army brats, and the prosecution sought attemtped murder charges, which society condoned. So, if the woman in question here was lucky to 'escape with her life', why is this not also attempted murder?

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What has manual transmission to do with it? over 70 they need eye sight tests, reaction tests, attention tests and such to determine the drivers skill.

There are some 20 30 40... year olds that can use the same test!

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Bosozoku punk kids, possibly?

My sentiments entirely.

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If the action, in the opinion of a reasonable man, and backed up by expert testimony (because sometimes the average Joe is wrong), would have resulted in death then the only logical charge is attempted murder.

No. You're obviously an intelligent person. Look up "murder" in the dictionary and then consider why your statement above is wrong.

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AustPaulJul. 02, 2013 - 10:27PM JST I concur lucabrasi.. If the intent or recklessness to murder someone was not there how can they be charged with attempted murder?

So if they had doused someone with gasoline and set fire to them and then said, "Oh, we were just having a laugh, we didn't mean any harm"... then they wouldn't be guilty of murder? Oh, wow. Well that's a brilliant defence. Just claim that you were just having a laugh and that you were ignorant of the effects of snapping someone's head back from 40km/hr to 0km/hr and you can walk away scott free!

If the action, in the opinion of a reasonable man, and backed up by expert testimony (because sometimes the average Joe is wrong), would have resulted in death then the only logical charge is attempted murder.

Of course we're both wrong. Intent doesn't mean a damn in Japanese law, only results. Charges for assault are categorised by the time it takes for the injury to heal, meaning that you can shoot someone in the head with a clear intent to kill and if they, by some miracle, survive with only a crease wound that takes a week to heal then you can only be charged with "assault resulting in injuries that took a week to heal"... oh, and possessing and firing a gun obviously, but a murder charge wouldn't be possible.

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I concur lucabrasi.. If the intent or recklessness to murder someone was not there how can they be charged with attempted murder?

I'm no lawyer either but I'm sure that charge would get thrown out.

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@Frungy

the charge HAS to be attempted murder. Regardless of what the person intended.

This is why you're not a lawyer.

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Red Green would be disappointed that duct tape was used in such nefarious ways.

Keep your stick on the ice.

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The woman was seriously injured in the crash and the youths were arrested on charges of attempted murder, police said.

What eventually happened? Were they tried and convicted?

Has the woman recovered?

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Where was anything written about Yokota? It was Fujisawa. The tape may have fingerprints which may help find the culprits eventually. And why were kids suspect?

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WTF? What kind of brain dead moron would do something so stupid? The mentality of some people beggars belief at times. I hope the poor woman recovers from this... sick, sick people around.

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Doctors say the victim, who injured her back and sustained several minor injuries in the incident, was lucky to escape with her life.

If, in the expert opinion of a doctor, the incident was severe enough to threaten her life then the charge HAS to be attempted murder. Regardless of what the person intended.

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Anyway, American brats from Yokota or stupid J kids, both are bad!!

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So when it's American kids outside a US base it's attempted murder, but when it's not it's not? Some may react in the defense of the hoodlums who did it by saying tape is not as serious as rope, but the doctors did say she was lucky to escape with her life, did they not? So why only assault in this case?

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Another reason to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle or scooter. isn't that the law?..for scooter i mean

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She's lucky she wasn't speeding. It could have killed her.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Another reason to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle or scooter.

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I once got knocked off my bicycle by a length of rope that was stretched between the metal fence separating the road and the sidewalk, and a stanchion placed about three feet into the road to mark off the area where construction had been done. When I rode past it (or into it), during a break from the construction, they had left the rope and stanchions in place, and the dirtiness of the rope made it completely invisible even with a bicycle headlight. The stanchion, the bottom of which was concrete, fell on top of me, and a kindly stranger removed it so I could get back up.

The police, and the owner of the store on that spot, were remarkably indifferent, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this kind of thing taken seriously back when these first two incidents happened a few years ago.

At the very least, reflective tape should be mandatory at these kinds of sites when there's no person around to wave those glowing pointer sticks. People like to mock those guys, but they're performing a valuable and essential service.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

They should be considered "attempted murder" rather than "assault" (for American military brats or Japanese).

This kind of "prank" can be deadly.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

So, assualt if it's not known to be foreign military brats, and attempted murder if it is?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

And whatever became of the past individuals who were charged?

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@AKBfan: Yes....the correct phrase is 'It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."

As kids we always used to change 'eye' to 'ear' to inject a little humor into a non-humorous situation.

As a kid me and my friends would do a kinda similar thing. We'd get about three kids on each side of the street and mime like we were pulling a rope and see how many drivers would slow down and stop. No actual rope of course, just miming. But pissed off enough people to stop doing it. Stupid stuff kids do.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Seems like a childish prank. Thankfully, they didn't use some kind of metal wire that could have easily decapitated her.

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Chronic - isn't it meant to be an eye that somebody loses? Stupid behaviour by bored young thugs?

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Get Real - Bosozoku punk kids, possibly?

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1 am? I wonder who the intended victims were.

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poor woman. i hope they catch the perps

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There's got to be something a little heavier/more appropriate than assault for something like this.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Terribly vicious prank. If they find who did this they should stick him on a bicycle, no helmet, and run him through his own trap, full speed.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

All fun and games until someone loses an ear.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

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