crime

Man jumps to death from 4th floor of Nagoya police station

33 Comments

A 49-year-old company employee being questioned at a police station in Nagoya's Minato Ward on Saturday morning jumped out the 4th-floor window, police said. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to police, the man had been taken into custody for driving while under the influence of alcohol at around 9:15 p.m. Friday, Fuji TV reported.

During a break in questioning, the man suddenly got up, ran toward an open window and jumped before officers could stop him. He fell about 13 meters onto a car parked below, police said.

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33 Comments
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It is sad to hear this type of story anywhere. Obviously alcohol and depression played a pivotal role in his death. May he rest in peace.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

He prob just would've paid a big fine. (Wonder what his BAC was) Not the end of the world. People here, so quick to leap!

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Why is death so often the choice?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The best way to avoid these kinds of accidental deaths is to ban alcohol as this is THE mother of many of the problems in this world.

-10 ( +6 / -16 )

I don't want make obvious but Jaanese police department doesn't supposed to have bars in the windows? I know was 4Fl but well is worth it put some bars in the windows.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@sensei258

Why is death so often the choice?

Probably for the same reasons as "non-treatment" of people needing psychiatric care : "shame and loss of face..."

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Ban alcohol??? Wtf... Banning things for the rest due to one person's mistake is not the answer. Personal responsibility is There are his personal reasons for his choice to take his own life and this incident can't be the only reason, it just was the trigger. May he rest in peace

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Well at least he wasn't the usual: Unemployed with no permanent address.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I am sorry, that he felt this was the only way out!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Ah, the old "he jumped before anyone could react" story. Often used by the police in Ulster, South Africa and Alabama. Maybe he'd "stumbled down a flight of stairs" a few minutes earlier, or "repeatedly struck his own forehead against a cell wall"?

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Luca, I highly doubt they let him die.. He was taken in for drunk driving for gods sake! This poor man, My heart goes out to his family and close friends... Tragic.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

@AADV

I hope you're right. I believe you're right. It's just that growing up in the late 70s and early 80s, I remember an awful lot of Irish republicans and South African anti-apartheid campaigners had a tendency to "jump" and kill themselves.

Mistrust dies hard....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A very sad incident. I guess there was something only this man knew.

May his spirit rest in peace.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The best way to avoid these kinds of accidental deaths is to ban alcohol

Huh?

Obviously alcohol and depression played a pivotal role in his death. May he rest in peace.

Wow, what serious conjecture here, could it have been he was scared? Ever think that maybe, just maybe he was ashamed of what he got nailed for and did not want to face the music?

Never seems right to assume anything.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Alcohol has been responsible for so many ills in this society. Just see the people falling over the platforms, on the streets and everywhere else as a drinker loses his or her senses at least temporarily thus does not know how to think clearly and act in his or her own best interests.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

couldnt handle the stress of the forced confession!?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I wonder if he was so drunk that he thought he was on the ground floor and was making a bid to escape...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There are things in this world worse than death.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Probably lost his pride and could`t bare the shame in his lame fictional world inside his head . . . . like the guy who toped himself at JR because he was accused of gropping. Another casualty of the culture of pride&honor probably.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Or maybe he was thrown out the window by the police.

It's too bad they don't record interviews.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

"The best way to avoid these kinds of accidental deaths is to ban alcohol as this is THE mother of many of the problems in this world."

Perhaps you haven't heard that such a foolish notion was once enacted with horrible consequences. It's none of your or anyone's business (busybody) what others choose to, or not to, partake. Religious nutjobs took the USA down that road to perdition, and again with the "war on drugs", another failed group-think tragedy.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Stay on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is partly about loosing face but also likely financial. As an office worker prosecuted for drunk driving he would loose his job in Japan. At the age of 49 he probably had a mortgage and teenage children just going into college; a lot of financial responsibilities. He had probably worked at the same company since graduating and so on seniority based pay which would be good but beyond his actual skills. With this prosecution hanging around his neck he would be unable to get another job, at least not with any meaningful income. His wife if she is working probably only has a p/t minimum wage job. In this patriarchal society your ability to support your family financially is everything. Men have no other value here other than breadwinners. Poor sod must have suddenly realized how screwed he was.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"the man had been taken into custody for driving while under the influence of alcohol"

This is a serious offense. And being as how he was drunk, it's no surprise he jumped out of the window, he probably didn't even know he was 4 floors up.

"There are things in this world worse than death."

How do you know that, Clint? You haven't experienced death yet.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

He prob just would've paid a big fine. (Wonder what his BAC was) Not the end of the world. People here, so quick to leap!

Like 'japaninit' said, almost all salarymen will get fired for a DWI. While honestly I have little sympathy for people who make such poor choices as to drink and drive, I hardly think losing a job is worth dying for. He was lucky that his poor choice only resulted in being caught by the police, too bad for his family that he took the easy way out.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why was he being questioned?

This may seem like a stupid question, but this seems like a case that can be proven purely on physical evidence. Drive him to the nearest hospital, take blood, get his blood alcohol concentration, issue a fine or (if the blood alcohol is high enough) then ask the prosecutor to file charges.

I find it disturbing that the police were even ALLOWED to question someone who they suspected had diminished capability. Surely anything he said while drunk would be inadmissible in court? Someone who's too drunk to drive should also be too drunk to give testimony.

It all seems very suspicious. The bottom line though is that this guy was in police custody and they had a duty of care. Apply the same standards to them as they do to murder suspects. They should have to PROVE they did nothing wrong.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Alcohol is poison and the reason speech becomes slurred and walking is difficult is because it's a poison. People are stupid to poison themselves.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

@Christine

Alcohol is indeed poison, but it's the best goddam poison the Good Lord ever created....

0 ( +3 / -3 )

The best way to avoid these kinds of accidental deaths is to ban alcohol as this is THE mother of many of the problems in this world.

This argument ignores the fact that it's the driving part, more than the drinking part, that makes drinking and driving so dangerous. There are plenty of sober but reckless drivers who put innocent lives in danger. Get drunk while commuting by train and the worst that can happen is that you stumble home red-faced and perhaps humiliate yourself by vomiting on the street. It's when that drunk gets in a car that things become dangerous.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I find it disturbing that the police were even ALLOWED to question someone who they suspected had diminished capability.

Sorry, but I'm puzzled. I kind of like the idea that the police ask questions in any situation. How can they do their job otherwise?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Drunk... Maybe he thought he was still on the ground floor?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Maybe the dude had something else to hide like a skeleton in his closet that he was collecting pension payments for. There have been cases in the past in Japan where people being questioned by police for one thing have killed themselves, only for it to be found out later that they had done something even worse unrelated to the original questioning.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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