Polygamous Patrol

[Mike Oxlong]

Confused Japanese tourists trigger highway pursuit in Utah

The first night in the United States for a family of Japanese tourists ended with the parents being pulled from their rental car at gunpoint with their young son watching after their confusion about American traffic laws set off a high-speed pursuit in southern Utah.

The pursuit began at 1 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 15 near the Utah-Arizona border when the couple’s car was spotted going just 37 mph (60 kph) and swerving between lanes, said Lt. Brad Horne, Utah Highway Patrol’s DUI unit commander.

More than a dozen patrolmen were working the area in a special DUI (Driving Under the Influence) operation, and Horne said he figured the car was being driven by a drunken driver. Horne turned on his lights and siren to pull the car over.

Instead of pulling over, the driver sped up to 75 mph (120 kph) and began driving erratically, he said. Her speeds fluctuated between 40 and 75 mph (64 and 120 kph) as she weaved across lanes and into the shoulder.

Soon, there were three patrol cars in pursuit with other officers closing highway off ramps and setting tire spikes miles ahead, Horne said.

“It was literally red and blue lights in every direction,” Horne said.

The couple’s car skidded to a stop about 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of where the pursuit began after three of the tires deflated after hitting the spikes.

A patrolman bellowed commands from a loudspeaker in his patrol car, telling the couple to exit and walk backward. Both directions of I-15 were closed as officers prepared to encounter hardened criminals.

Instead, a Japanese woman in her early 40s emerged.

“She would walk forward, backward, spin around — obviously she had no clue what we wanted her to do,” Horne said.

Still bracing for the worst, officers approached the car with guns drawn and pulled the woman and a man from the car. That’s when they saw the couple’s 7-year-old son in the backseat and realized the family didn’t speak English.

The boy was crying, and the parents appeared nervous and confused, Horne said.

“I think they were terrified,” he said.

Realizing they were dealing with language and cultural barriers, and not a drunken driver or fugitive, officers changed their strategy, Horne said. One officer consoled the boy and reunited him with his parents as others worked to get a Japanese-speaking officer on the phone.

They found one in northern Utah who spoke to the couple and learned they had arrived from Japan on Friday morning and rented a car to drive from California to Bryce Canyon in southern Utah.

The woman said she had no idea what she was supposed to do when the patrolman put on his lights and siren, so she sped up to get out of the way. She kept apologizing for crashing the car, not realizing they ran over tire spikes, Horne said. Patrolmen took the family to a motel and wished them safe travels.

Nobody was hurt and no cars damaged other than the flat tires, he said. About a dozen law enforcement officers were involved in some way.

Authorities don’t plan to pursue charges.

Horne said the couple didn’t have Japanese driver’s licenses with them.

Horne said he’s encountered many tourists in his three decades working with the Utah Highway Patrol, but he’s never seen a situation escalate like this.

“Red and blue lights are a pretty universal signal,” Horne said. “Regardless of nationality and language, when we put lights on, people pull over and stop.”

[J.A.F.O]

I dunno, when I first started driving in j-land I didn't know that the local koban's did roving patrols with the lights flashing. One got behind me and I pulled over. Was thinking maybe I missed a stop sign or something. He passed me by like "dafuk he's doin" the wife just starts laughing.

[inflames]

Normally I would say that she should have known she was doing something wrong (swerving and going really fucking slow on the highway) but terrible driving is the norm here.

In the states sometimes cops drive by with their lights on (especially on highways), at least in PA, MD, and VA.

[Grumpy Gramps]

Horne said the couple didn’t have Japanese driver’s licenses with them.

And they were able to rent a car? Never happened to me, even in the US, that I could rent a car without showing my license to the girl at the car rentals' office.

[matsuki]

So...crazy driving, panic run from the police, no licenses on them...and they let them go? WTF?

I'm getting my international driver's license renewed again. No supiiku eigo

[Coligny]

So...crazy driving, panic run from the police, no licenses on them...and they let them go? WTF?

I'm getting my international driver's license renewed again. No supiiku eigo

They'll find a Navajo code talker to translate...

(Ok, maybe not anymore)

[matsuki]

It's like the extreme case of playing the dumb gaijin...where you make the news...and don't get arrested cuz....think of the children?

[American Oyaji]

Good thing they werent trigger happy

[Coligny]

Good thing they werent trigger happy

There was no dog to shoot...

[kurogane]

Good thing they werent trigger happy

There was no dog to shoot...

You take that back. No self-respecting American cop would shoot an unarmed dog, even after he massacred its owners.

As American Oyaji noted, a rather heartening end to a tale of epic stupidity. That woman must be stupiderer than 3 bags of hammers. Lucky for her she got tailed by some sane cops. The interviewed officer sounds and speaks like an actual human.

BTW, we ran into a Navajo code talker once down that way, but that was 20 years ago. Mind you, some Navajo do live a long, long time.

[Mike Oxlong]

You take that back. No self-respecting American cop would shoot an unarmed dog, even after he massacred its owners.

As American Oyaji noted, a rather heartening end to a tale of epic stupidity. That woman must be stupiderer than 3 bags of hammers. Lucky for her she got tailed by some sane cops. The interviewed officer sounds and speaks like an actual human.

Yep. Could have been like that famous case that still pops up on tv shows from time to time, where the Japanese exchange student on his way to a Halloween party with a friend went to the wrong address and misunderstood the word freeze when the homeowner trained a firearm on him...

[Coligny]

Good thing they werent trigger happy

There was no dog to shoot...

You take that back. No self-respecting American cop would shoot an unarmed dog, even after he massacred its owners.

You don't follow much the news it seems... Current habit for US cops seems to go with a swat team to the wrong address and then to shoot the family dog just in case...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Good thing they werent trigger happy

Call me crazy but I have a feeling things might have gone a lot worse if the family had been a little darker in complexion.

[American Oyaji]

Good thing they werent trigger happy

Call me crazy but I have a feeling things might have gone a lot worse if the family had been a little darker in complexion.

I'd say you're a perfectly sane American with his eyes unclouded by the bullshit.

[Mike Oxlong]

[matsuki]

You take that back. No self-respecting American cop would shoot an unarmed dog, even after he massacred its owners.

As American Oyaji noted, a rather heartening end to a tale of epic stupidity. That woman must be stupiderer than 3 bags of hammers. Lucky for her she got tailed by some sane cops. The interviewed officer sounds and speaks like an actual human.

Yep. Could have been like that famous case that still pops up on tv shows from time to time, where the Japanese exchange student on his way to a Halloween party with a friend went to the wrong address and misunderstood the word freeze when the homeowner trained a firearm on him...

I always heard it was the cops that shot him?? But then again, the details and victims shitty English seem less important than "kowai minna ju motteru amerika" message.

[Mike Oxlong]

You take that back. No self-respecting American cop would shoot an unarmed dog, even after he massacred its owners.

As American Oyaji noted, a rather heartening end to a tale of epic stupidity. That woman must be stupiderer than 3 bags of hammers. Lucky for her she got tailed by some sane cops. The interviewed officer sounds and speaks like an actual human.

Yep. Could have been like that famous case that still pops up on tv shows from time to time, where the Japanese exchange student on his way to a Halloween party with a friend went to the wrong address and misunderstood the word freeze when the homeowner trained a firearm on him...

I always heard it was the cops that shot him?? But then again, the details and victims shitty English seem less important than "kowai minna ju motteru amerika" message.

Homeowner, wasn't it? Kid misunderstood "Freeze!" for "Please...".

[matsuki]

You're right, it's just the nuts around me that have lost grasp of the facts.

[Samurai_Jerk]

You take that back. No self-respecting American cop would shoot an unarmed dog, even after he massacred its owners.

As American Oyaji noted, a rather heartening end to a tale of epic stupidity. That woman must be stupiderer than 3 bags of hammers. Lucky for her she got tailed by some sane cops. The interviewed officer sounds and speaks like an actual human.

Yep. Could have been like that famous case that still pops up on tv shows from time to time, where the Japanese exchange student on his way to a Halloween party with a friend went to the wrong address and misunderstood the word freeze when the homeowner trained a firearm on him...

I always heard it was the cops that shot him?? But then again, the details and victims shitty English seem less important than "kowai minna ju motteru amerika" message.

Homeowner, wasn't it? Kid misunderstood "Freeze!" for "Please...".

Death of Yoshihiro Hattori