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Tokyo cops bust teens over ‘police tag’ prank

Teenagers on motorcycles made phoney distress calls to police so that they would be chased
Teenagers on motorcycles made phoney distress calls to police so that they would be chased
TOKYO (TR) – A group of teenagers were arrested for making prank emergency calls to “play tag” with police, the Mainichi Shimbun reported on Thursday (June 2).

According to police, six suspects were arrested and five were referred to prosecutors in the group that includes high school students and painters, all around 17-18 years old, over violating traffic laws by committing dangerous acts.

Police said the 11 suspects, who according to Nippon News Network all live in Shinagawa Ward, were friends from the same local junior high school or acquainted through work. They allegedly kept making prank emergency calls and then scattering via means like motorcycles whenever a patrol car arrived.

All suspects admitted to the charges, with one telling police it was “fun being chased by cops. We probably did it about 40 times over three years.”

According to Sankei Shimbun, police started looking into the group after they were suspected of gathering early in the morning on October 18 last year in Ota Ward, Tokyo, where they rode their motorcycles as they repeatedly ran lights and loitered on roads over a kilometer-long stretch.

Police believe the suspects then made a prank emergency call claiming a “gang was starting to gather,” and subsequently forced a patrol car that raced to the scene to chase them.