Man arrested after using stun gun on police officer in Gunma
GUNMA —
Police said Tuesday that a 47-year-old man was arrested for assault and interfering with an officer in the line of duty on Monday night, after he used a stun gun on an officer who was questioning him about his car.
Police said they discovered a vehicle with a stolen license plate in a pachinko parlor car park in Isesaki City at around 8.30 p.m. Monday. Officers from Isesaki police station and a prefectural SWAT team lay in wait for someone to approach the vehicle.
Just after 10 p.m., a car pulled into the car park, and a man got out and approached the vehicle with the stolen license plate. A 51-year-old sergeant approached the man and began talking to him, but the man put the stun gun to the sergeant’s right hand, inflicting minor injuries.
The suspect, who was arrested on the spot, was identified as Hiromi Sasaki, a bar manager in Yokohama. However, the car Sasaki got out of sped off, police said.
Sasaki was quoted as saying: “I didn’t want to get caught, so I attacked him.”
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mindovermatter
More fine, outstanding work by Japan's Finest....
LOL....
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likeitis
Missing details, I would judge that so quickly. Some Pachinko parking lots are vast with multiple exits, including the "emegency" exits of between trees, through the garden and onto the road. And team could mean just three people.
Any preparation they took to prevent this could have tipped off the perps, then they would have none. I am plenty happy that they got one of them. The rest will likely follow.
But I expect some here will not be satisfied, but would have much preferred a potentially fatal car chase complete with collateral damage, or expected to have dozens of cops on the stakeout that might have lasted for days and could have been totally fruitless and most likely usually is (but they would not want to pay for it with their tax money.)
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Den Den
Thank Allah that it was only a stun gun, a real gun would be a tragedy for the officer just doing his job. As for the escape of some (probably)very dodgy characters, I disagree with likeitis. What is the use of having a stack out, if you don't chase and catch the offenders? Otherwise, they should just put a hidden camera and gps in the car, and only one officer needs to sit in an office somewhere...
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Sarge
"I didn't want to get caught, so I attacked him"
Makes sense.
"The suspect, who was arrested on the spot"
He got caught anyway. Obviously he needs lessons on how to properly use a stun gun. I recommend he take lessons from Chloe O'Brien.
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BBLeo
Is that the same 'pachinko parlor' that had last year a scenario? “I didn’t want to get caught, so I attacked him" is normal procedure for a crim. Lucky cops that the guy didn't 'bazooka' to blow them all up.
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mindovermatter
LOL.... You're too much dude.... You're killing me....
They had an entire swat team there... What else do they need...? An invitation to do their job, right, the first time...?
This is low-grade, slapstick comedy at best... But terrible police work...
I wonder if they even though enough to write down the license plate of the vehicle that sped off...?
Some-How I doubt it....
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USNinJapan2
I guess the Japanese Police have yet to discover spike-strips...
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nigelboy
LOL.
You got JT who butcher the translation to "SWAT"(because there is no SWAT in Japan) and of course, you have a sucker that believes every single word of it because he/she has NO MEANS (brain capacity) to verify it.
I guess "it takes two to tango".
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gogogo
They had a swat team and a police officer was attacked and the other guy got away? wow talk about useless.
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likeitis
I thought the same thing for about half a second. But they do not have a suspect until someone approaches the car. So, they cannot lay the strips until then, else they will flatten a lot of innocent people's tires. But just because someone approaches the car does not mean its the theives. So you don't want to lay strips just then either. As soon as people start fleeing, THEN you can start laying the strips. Good luck moving that fast.
I think the things are reserved for when you have a chase going on and roadblocks are set up. And usually that situation happens on highways, not mid-town.
I do not think there is anyway to use the things in this situation, without, ahem, ridiculous collateral damage, or, a crystal ball.
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likeitis
How many people in "an entire SWAT team"? Can they body block a car? Or do you want them to shoot tires and car occupants?
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sharky1
Shocking news!
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USNinJapan2
likeitis
I disagree. Spike strips aren't left out on the road well in advance; they're deployed as close to the suspect vehicle's passing as possible. All it would have taken was for one of the police team to standby the entrance/exit with the spike strip to roll it out in front of the car as it tried to get away. No chase would have been necessary and no collateral damage. The problem with Japanese police is that they design their operations expecting the suspect to comply, so they're totally unprepared when the suspect does anything other than say, "Okay you got me, I'm guilty."
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sailwind
sharky,
I got a real charge out of your post.
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mrhog123
Did the cop who got hit with a stun gun dance the jig?
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Badge213
Yes if Police anywhere were always prepared with spike strips we'll never have cool tv shows like "World Scariest Police Chases".
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MeanRingo
I agree with likesitself too. A pursuit would have been brutal. Don't you all remember the Osaka car chase? One crim against something like 4000 police officers in over 800 vehicles. Chasing this guy for a set of stolen plates would have been devastating to the ecology of Japan with all those carbon fuels being burned up, when all they need to do is follow the trail of the license plate. Now, they did get the plate didn't they? No?
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likeitis
I wonder about that myself. But then, what if those plates were stolen as well?
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hoserfella
Again. likeitis confusedly wondering aloud with zero authority, info, or grasp of the situation, yet going on like he's just watched a "Matlock" marathon. 'tis funny, though...
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dontpanic
This is no joke, the copper was interfered with, he's probably scarred for life.
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yawmin
nobody wants to get caught, but after the fact in the US you would been laid out with many holes like swiss cheese. I see cops shoot people for moving their hand funny. i think japan is a criminal's paradise as far as lieneancy(sp).
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ca1ic0cat
Where did this guy get a stun gun, of all things? Aren't they banned?
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biglittleman
Probably, Akihabara or any Don Quixote. Banned is a relative term.
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likeitis
hoserfella: Again. likeitis confusedly wondering aloud with zero authority, info, or grasp of the situation, yet going on like he's just watched a "Matlock" marathon. 'tis funny, though...
Care to comment on the topic? Show us how not confused you are and how authoritive, and how you have a firm grasp of the situation.
Show us some courage, and tell us what you think about the topic. Your little feelings toward me are obvious to everyone by this time.
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elbudamexicano
Japan has no SWAT teams? They may call it by another name but believe you me, when the prime minister, or the Imperial family etc..go out, they have sharp shooters everywhere, just in case.
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hoserfella
Hmmm, lets see. With so little info available,I really don't know enough about this incident to start pontificating. So rather than bore people with silly "what-ifs", Ill hold my tongue.
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nigelboy
You're partly correct. Japan does have similar special unit under the different name but they were not utilized in this incident.
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mindovermatter
Oh, I'm sorry... This is Good JN Police work...?
Wow... I'd hate to see bad.... God help us...
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likeitis
Welcome to JT. With that attitude, you should be holding your tongue A LOT. They don't even give us pictures most of the time. And details? You are funny mister! Its all guesswork, but at least my posts tend to admit that.
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