Man feigns death for 3 hours to avoid police questioning in Osaka

Friday 21st August, 09:47 AM JST

OSAKA —

A 22-year-old man, who was arrested Wednesday night for assault and obstruction of duty after he rear-ended the motorcycle of a police officer, feigned death for about three hours, police said Thursday.

According to police, Yuji Matsumura of Sakai City was riding his motorcycle with some friends when he ran into the motorcycle of the police officer. He tried to escape but was apprehended about 400 meters from the crash.

Seconds after he was handcuffed, Matsumura collapsed and pretended to be dead. Police called for an ambulance even though his breathing and heartbeat were normal. Matsumura put on a good show, however, and didn’t even flinch when medics inserted a catheter into his urethra. A doctor who performed a CT scan found no abnormalities.

This went on for three hours, police said, until Matsumura’s mother came to the hospital to identify him. He returned to his senses at the sound of her voice.

Matsumura was quoted by police as saying: “I was tired, so I just went to sleep.”

News reports

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Latest 15 of 64 Total Comments Show All

norinrad21 at 03:10 PM JST - 21st August

Wow wow wow keystone cops OWNED again............hahahahahahaha
Nessie at 03:16 PM JST - 21st August

Still needs his mom to wake him up? What a loser. I haven't needed that since last week.
kirakira25 at 04:51 PM JST - 21st August

So the guy now has legal grounds to sue...

I seriously doubt that
gogogo at 08:27 PM JST - 21st August

kirakira25: Sure he does, unnecessary medical procedure, humiliation or even grievous boldly harm since it was obviously done intentionally by the medical staff to invoke a reaction not fix a medical condition.
Cicada at 10:02 PM JST - 21st August

his breathing and heartbeat were normal...Matsumura was quoted by police as saying: “I was tired, so I just went to sleep.”

Isn't it a bit dramatic to headline "Man feigns death" when the evidence is that he was only feigning unconsciousness?
TheMarion at 12:45 AM JST - 22nd August

We should all applaud the actions of the police; their every move was according to the book.
Fadamor at 03:47 AM JST - 22nd August

It's hard to feign death while breathing normally and with a normal pulse. The headline puzzles me.
PoolofZen at 06:31 AM JST - 22nd August

what article was norinrad reading?
zhazam05 at 11:34 AM JST - 22nd August

Lets back up here a bit =He didnt flinch at the catheter? perhaps he should have been Cremated!-Then if this Nitwits ashes didnt shake he could prove his demise!!!
kirakira25 at 06:21 PM JST - 22nd August

unnecessary medical procedure, humiliation or even grievous boldly harm since it was obviously done intentionally by the medical staff to invoke a reaction not fix a medical condition.

Obviously done intentionally by medical staff to invoke a reaction? Grievious bodily harm? That`s a pretty big leap! I think you will find it is actually pretty standard procedure in cases where they are not sure what may be going on internally. Even if it was done maliciously that would be very hard to prove. As for the humiliation - I think he has pretty much taken care of that himself...
Cicada at 10:03 PM JST - 22nd August

fusedentropy,

Article states:

Matsumura collapsed and pretended to be dead.

How could they know he was pretending to be dead? is what I was asking. In this news there is not even a hint of how they knew he was faking being unconscious, let alone that he was faking death.
Cicada at 11:02 PM JST - 24th August

fusedentropy:

He either Admitted it, the police assumed it, the policed, after careful investigation, came to that conclusion.

The point is the reporter is only thoughtlessly repeating what the police said. Any decent journalist would have inquired, and relayed the information in the story. As it is, we just have the ridiculous suggestion that someone who is breathing normally, but not responding to insertion of catheter, is "feigning death". Quite possibly, the guy actually fainted, or at most was suspected of feigning unconsciousness.
JPYuki at 02:48 PM JST - 25th August

My mother once said, "The most difficult person to wake up is the one who is already awake."
benhur at 05:36 PM JST - 26th August

haaahahahahahaaha.........
XXXXX at 12:59 AM JST - 27th August

I thought it was a more sophisticated technique but he just pretended to be unconscious. feigns death