Odd

A while ago on this site I reported a 17 hour police hunt involving 18 cars and two helicopters. All for a man alleged to have stolen a DVD player.

But that epic pursuit has been made to look like kids stuff by a chase through Tokyo’s suburbs on Tuesday. An operation that involved an unprecedented 92 police vehicles and 2 helicopters. Whilst the man the police were after was admittedly suspected of stealing more than a DVD player, he can hardly be described as public enemy #1. And whether the theft of a woman’s bag and a small van warrants an operation on this scale is highly debatable to say the least. But by snatching the bag and then making off in a stolen van, 33-year-old Masami Takahashi set in motion events that would even be considered excessive in a Hollywood action movie.

Initially just one police vehicle set off after the bag and van loving Takahashi, but as the policeman had no success stopping him, reinforcements were called. Presumably it was a quiet day for the capital’s police force, as the longer the chase went on, the more reinforcements were called in. Resulting in the aforementioned 92 vehicles and 2 helicopters.

This epic chase went on for several hours, and it took Takahashi-san and heaven knows how many police officers through a whistle stop tour of 5 Tokyo municipalities. In the end though, and no doubt through sheer force of numbers, the suspect and his vehicle were brought to a halt.

But even then the gallant criminal wasn’t ready to give up, as he attempted to escape on foot. But with the streets presumably swarming with police, and helicopters hovering above, Takahashi didn’t get very far. Eventually being captured in a barbershop of all places. Although whether he’d had time to get his haircut before being arrested wasn’t reported.

Pictured above is an alleged reconstruction of the police chase. The circled area is where Takahashi was finally arrested, and the numbers apparently indicate when and where more police vehicles were requested.

Police officers in Kumamoto had the unexpected job of trying to capture a runaway zebra on Tuesday.

The 2 metre long and 200 kilogram animal was being moved from Osaka’s Tennoji Zoo to Kumamoto Zoological Gardens, when the driver of the truck it was being carried in decided to have a rest. But unfortunately as he was taking a nap at the service station, the 9-year-old zebra smashed through the wood surrounding the load platform and made a spectacular bid for freedom.

Traffic police soon arrived on the scene, but the plucky beast evaded capture for an impressive 5 hours. In fact the pursuit only ended when the zebra was cornered in the service area’s toilets, and then unceremoniously shot with a tranquilizer dart.

Unfortunately reports didn’t say whether the animal had entered the toilets merely to hide, or was in fact so well trained that it went in there to do it’s, ahem, business. But either way, after such a gallant escape bid, the toilet area of some grimy service station isn’t the most dignified of places to be captured in.

A zoo official later said that it was very lucky the zebra didn’t run out onto the expressway, and also added this little pearl pf wisdom. “I think zebras become nervous in these situations because they normally grow up in the wild.”

You don’t say!

The clearly unrepentant zebra yesterday

On Wednesday, 64-year-old Hiroshi Ohashi was arrested for locking himself and a male friend of his wife in a wooden box.

Hardly the crime of the century you may think, but Mr. Ohashi was armed with a kitchen knife. Unfortunately news reports didn’t give details about the size of the box, but it was confirmed that they were in there for a staggering13 hours. Presumably without toilet breaks too, which conjures up all kinds of unpleasant images.

Police suspect that the incident occurred because of a dispute over an alleged extramarital affair involving the unnamed man and Ohashi-san’s wife. No information was given about this woman at the centre of the two-men-locked-in-a-box-together-with-one-angry-and-armed-with-a-knife story, but the hostage was a sprightly 39 years old, adding a bit more spice and intrigue to the story.

The now empty wooden box yesterday