Real life gets stranger than fiction as Nagasaki police chase turns absurd
Real life can sometimes be stranger than any movie script, and this is one of those cases where Japan decided to outdo itself. What was supposed to be a simple traffic patrol turned into a movie-worthy police chase, with a detail no one expected at the end.
It was a normal workday for police officers in Nagasaki Prefecture. The patrol car was calmly driving along a national highway, where the speed limit was a modest 50 km/h. Everything seemed normal until a car suddenly sped past, completely ignoring any sense of caution or traffic laws.
The patrol car did what any patrol car would do: turned on the sirens, accelerated, and went after the vehicle. The problem was that the driver not only ignored the signal but decided to step on the gas even harder. The car was clocked at 102 km/h, more than double the allowed speed, while the chase continued with no sign of stopping.
After some time, the vehicle managed to escape. Mission failed? Not quite. The officers noted the license plate and checked the identity of the car’s owner. That’s when the situation went from strange to downright absurd: the vehicle belonged to a police officer from the same department.
As if that wasn’t enough, security cameras across the city showed that the officer, a woman in her 20s who was off duty that day, had committed no fewer than 13 traffic violations in just a few hours. Among them were running red lights and completely ignoring basic traffic rules.
After an internal investigation, an administrative punishment was issued: a 10% salary cut for six months. The case was also sent to the prosecutor’s office to determine whether criminal charges would be pursued. On the same day the punishment was officially applied, the police officer decided to resign.
The officer was then called in to explain why she was driving at over 100 km/h and, even more importantly, why she did not stop when the patrol car ordered her to. That’s when an unbelievable explanation came out.
The woman said she had gone to visit her parents during the holiday and was driving at that speed because she just wanted to get home and sleep. She claimed that she simply did not notice the patrol car behind her.
The internet, of course, did not forgive her. Many users were less shocked by the violations and more impressed by the fact that she managed to escape a patrol car without causing any accidents. Others criticized the punishment, saying it was far too lenient for someone who was supposed to set an example.