Fake Unmarked Police Car Causes Collision in Fukuoka

A traffic accident captured public attention. In the early morning of February 17, at an intersection in Tenjin, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City, a private taxi, passing through a green light, collided with an unmarked police car on an emergency run. However, that unmarked police car was a complete fake.

On May 8, Riku Motomura, a 24-year-old company employee from Nagasaki City, and Kota Ogiki, a 25-year-old company employee from Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, were arrested on suspicion of violating the Act on Punishment of Acts Inflicting Death or Injury by Driving a Motor Vehicle (dangerous driving causing injury). Motomura was driving the fake unmarked police car, and Ogiki was in the passenger seat. 

In response to the investigation by the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, they provided a selfish and extreme reason: “I engaged in emergency driving to chase the patrol car that was on an emergency run.”

The suspects were known as enthusiasts of patrol cars, sharing pictures of patrol cars taken at various scenes on social media. It was reported that they were eager to chase after patrol cars during emergency situations. 

I asked a police officer about this incident..

“Including police cars, emergency vehicles generally stop or slow down when entering intersections during emergency runs to prevent accidents. They use their loudspeakers to ask other vehicles to stop. Nowadays, cars are better at blocking out noise, so it’s harder to hear sirens while listening to music. This means emergency vehicles need to drive even more carefully.

However, this fake undercover police car was loudly sounding its siren and making announcements over the microphone, but it was clearly speeding through the intersection, so it’s no surprise that an accident occurred. It’s really unfortunate for the victims, and they deserve proper punishment. The crime of amateurs imitating authorities is too serious.”

The suspect, Honmura, was driving a sedan called the Toyota Camry, which is actually widely used as an unmarked police car nationwide, and they imitated it. To make an unmarked police car, you need special equipment like sirens and speakers, which can be bought by anyone on auction sites.

The suspect, Motomura, had apparently replaced his Camry since last fall with the one that caused the accident. Before that, he had been using a Suzuki Kizashi, a model that is also used as an undercover police car throughout Japan.

A car enthusiast who knows the suspects, Honmura and Aoki, said, “Honmura always seemed quiet or kinda gloomy. When I greeted him, he didn’t respond much. Aoki, on the other hand, seemed bright and outgoing. But during last year’s G7 Hiroshima Summit, he was seen taking pictures of a police facility from the premises of an apartment building, which didn’t seem related to him. He seemed so focused on filming that he lost sight of his surroundings.”

 

There have been several incidents in the past related to this type of fake police car incident and police car enthusiast. 

In 1998, there was an incident where a former Self-Defense Forces member stopped a motorcycle gang using a fake undercover police car, leading to a brawl. He even had a forged police ID. In January 2009, someone made a rare car model look like an undercover police car, activated sirens, mounted red lights on the dashboard, and led police on a chase. Then, in 2014, a police car enthusiast broke into a police station parking lot and stole multiple antennas from undercover police cars, as well as committing additional offenses.

The incident this time, caused by the excessive actions of enthusiasts, has led to an increase in citizens questioning whether the police officers and police cars they encounter are real or not, which puts a strain on the hard work of police officers. The offense of generating confusion with fake undercover police cars is significant.