Like the title says, some cops in Nagoya didn’t add 2 and 2 to get fire! when they gave a cigarette and a lighter to a man that was not only soaked in a flammable liquid, but to add fuel to proverbial and literal fires, this was a guy that had been brought in for disturbed, violent behavior, and there is a no-smoking rule at the station. Earlier, the man that went alight had refused to remove his kerosene-soaked clothes, which apparently the cops were okay with. Shortly after they decided that they were not only okay with also breaking the no-smoking rule, but helping the guy to do it. They man took this good-willed move and turned it into an act of suicide, alighting himself from the knee.

In the end, we have a few cops that may be fired –well I doubt it will go as far as that, this is Japan– and a poor guy that is toast (the man did not survive and investigations are underway). Puns and incredulity aside, it’s a pretty tragic incident that could have been avoided by a simple application of common sense; one has to wonder if the cigarette thing was one of the Japanese police’s famous interrogation techniques (be a little nice to get them to talk), but we can only speculate.

This news item was culled from a Japan Today article.