Osaka: Man crashes stolen car after 2 km police chase

OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police arrested a 21-year-old man who crashed a stolen car after a chase in Sakai City on Tuesday, reports NHK (May 8).

At around 4:00 p.m., Masaya Adachi, of no known occupation, sped off in the vehicle, a black van that had been reported stolen, after being told to stop by officers in a patrol car on a road in Sakai Ward.

Over the course of 2 kilometers, Adachi ignored traffic lights in refusing to surrender. At one point, he rammed the back of the vehicle into the patrol car. He also collided with two other vehicles waiting at a traffic signal.

About 10 minutes after the chase began, Adachi drove the wrong direction on a road and plowed over a planter in the median. The vehicle then careened across another lane of traffic and into another planter in coming to a halt.

In footage captured by Fuji News Network (May 8), Adachi is shown fleeing the vehicle. After eluding at least six officers, he is later apprehended. Police later accused him of interfering with the duties of a public servant over the ramming of the patrol car.

“Since I didn’t have a license, I fled,” the suspect was quoted by police in admitting to the allegations.