Four youths arrested after scooter pursuit in Chiba

Friday 12th December, 12:56 PM JST

CHIBA —

Police arrested and charged four teenage boys with dangerous driving and other violations of the Road Traffic Law on Thursday.

According to police, the boys called police from a public phone in Kisarazu City at around 3 a.m. on Nov 16, and reported that motorbike gangs were making a lot of noise. The four boys waited for the police, and when they arrived about 10 minutes later, took off on two scooters and played a game they called “Real Chasey.” The game involved one boy driving the scooter, zig zagging about while the other boy on the back provoked police with words and gestures.

The boys led police on a pursuit which included national roads and the boys ignoring traffic signals, and police lost them after five minutes. But they were able to identify the boys as all of them have been taken into custody before.

The boys – a welder, 17, a plumber, 16, a first year high school student, 15, and a second year junior high school student, 14, knew each other through the junior high school.

One of the boys was quoted by police as saying: “I love the thrill. I’ve done it more than 10 times this year.”

The first year high school student doesn’t have a license, and drove at speeds of only 10 to 30 kilometers per hour.

The boys claimed they came up with the name for the game, but there is a novel in the same name by Yusuke Yamada, which was made into a movie this year.

Kyodo News Service

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Latest 15 of 19 Total Comments Show All

saitamakid at 03:40 PM JST - 12th December

Ahhhh.... CHIBA!!!
BBLeo at 05:39 PM JST - 12th December

'Wow wow.' How about that cops lost tads on the scooters. Were cops riding the bikes, or were they running marathon behind them Boys had done a good test on traffic cops, and they should join police force with their scooters. Many crims will be nabbed much quicker.
franz75 at 06:05 PM JST - 12th December

Hahahaha. that's pretty stupid too.
Sarge at 06:28 PM JST - 12th December

"a welder, 17, a plumber, 16"

These boys have chosen their careers early in life.
airrunwesker at 09:51 PM JST - 12th December

What's the big deal? If the scooters were made in China, they won't be running in a month anyway! Therefore, no more problems!
ThonTaddeo at 09:57 PM JST - 12th December

Thats funny- they lost them on a scooter.

A foreign-looking person must have passed by on a bicycle, diverting the cops' attention.
piroz121 at 12:45 AM JST - 13th December

No one will probably remember this but i'm sure these kids will be involved in murder cases 10 years from now , murdering their spouses or something , espially the welder and the plumber .
ca1ic0cat at 03:09 AM JST - 13th December

yeah, I have to agree. There is such a thing as the wrong type of "no respect for authority." These jerks really do need to be pounded down.
proxy at 08:45 AM JST - 13th December

I guess it is national news because the police caught them; I have no hard stats but I think these scooter pursuits happen 100 times a day across the country.
Tezbo at 10:23 AM JST - 13th December

ThonTaddeo, GOOD ONE!!,, Oh by the way it was me with my light off!!

Tezbo
Triumvere at 11:23 AM JST - 13th December

Wow. Morons.
Disillusioned at 03:41 PM JST - 13th December

Yep! I've seen this game many times around Funabashi. The reckless idiots are lucky they are still alive. Now, I wonder what will happen to them. A stern talking to, a not-so public apology and back to normal until they do it again. Lock these little suckers up and make it public knowledge the police are not gonna stand for it! Just kidding! This is Japan. The land where the kids do whatever they like with little or no consequences what-so-ever. Just the fact these morons would attempt such a dangerous game shows just how effective the police are. But, make sure your bicycle registration is up to date or they will get you.
likeitis at 06:23 PM JST - 13th December

I wonder if the police "lost" them on purpose. If they kept chasing them then the police could blamed for any accident that occurs. Its not like they have a crane arm to safely scoop up these punks.

So the smart move is to stop chasing them so the punks stop driving recklessly (not to mention making a mockery of the police who can't just make the bastards crash as they should probably be allowed to do after a time.) Then the cops pick the punks up when they go home since the cops have already IDed them.

Give the cops a break. Their hands are tied to really do anything but exactly what they did.
MeanRingo at 10:27 PM JST - 13th December

"Stop... or I'll say "Stop" again." j-cop quote of the year.

I've seen this done and I do wonder what would happen in other countries. I somehow just can't imagine a western bike gang doing something like this. I mean, who calls the cops to draw their attention. Bunch of idiots, but I do suppose it would be a thrill if I were 17. Especially when you know the cops can/will do nothing to stop you. They should try locking the whole family up together in one small cell and see how well they get on with each other after a couple of weeks without showers and only rice gruel for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
kjunluc2 at 10:42 AM JST - 15th December

Matte! Maaaatte, bakayarrro. Why couldn't they catch the one who was doing 10 mph?

I think the Japanese are watching too many movies; especially American movies.