Comments

Posts

Drunk marines steal taxi in Okinawa

Do not steal (image from ATV)

Two drunk marines stole a taxi in Okinawa the other day, making national news. Apparently the taxi had been left unlocked with its keys still in the ignition, so the marines had no trouble getting in and driving away:

While the 50-year-old cab driver called police, his fellow cabbies at the taxi stand reacted quickly, the spokesman said. He said the cabbies chased the vehicle, allegedly driven by Eckersen, with Stodghill in the back seat, south on Highway 58.

A motorcyclist joined the pursuit until police took the lead, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the chase ended in about 30 minutes when the stolen car bumped and scraped the sides of the five cars at Isa Intersection, including two driven by Americans. At that point, the taxi became inoperable, police said.

31 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - October 7, 2008 at 2:43 pm

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags: crime, okinawa, us marine corps

onceuponatime

so sorry but the taxi dude was asking for it. everytime i see a car running and no one in sight i just want to get in and take off. and i am not drunk. what the heck is the matter with people here? a while back some cops had their cruiser stolen in exactly the same way. turn off the engine and lock the doors. we ain`t in kansas anymore.

vincent

next time your wife goes to gynecologist it will be alright to for him to do her, right? after all, she’ll be there with no pants and with her legs spread. he doesn’t have to be drunk either.

onceuponatime

you are sick, vincent. what you say has nothing to do with my post. and by the way, i am the wife.

vincent

I meant no personal offense, but its the same logic. It is my firm conviction that when a crime occurs because of the carelessness of the owner, the owner has some fault, but the one who is really to blame is the thief, because it happens to everyone sometimes to forget something they own and we don’t want our mistakes to be punished by justifying the act of stealing. A moral person will not steal something left behind even if its owner is “asking for it”, unless you think we should reintroduce Spartan society where the guilty is the one who got his possessions stolen and the one who was caught with his hand in the jar, but the ones who successfully commit crimes are worthy of respect. Its just primitive. And next time you go to gynecologist you can think about it.
me

Vincent is right here. The crude example is simply meant to emphasize the central point. onceuponatime, you’re blaming the wrong crowd.
Ron

What he said has nothing to do with your post? Can one really be so ignorant?
onceuponatime

comparing violating a human being and stealing a car are so far apart i can`t event think how your minds work. leaving keys in a car and the engine running is NOT the same as going to a gyno. unless you boys see the car as some extention of your manhood.
Ron

You seem very confused, so here’s an idea. Take a step back and reread his second post for the explanation. Then either refute his points or admit that your original post demonstrated ignorance. good luck!
onceuponatime

vincent`s original comparison is so sick and off the wall. someone else said it right. it is like leaving your wallet on the sidewalk. that is not taking care of your own property while going to a doctor you expect a certain amount of professionalism. i think vincent and you others have some sort of gyno fixation. if you really want to make a comparison – at least do apples and oranges – that is in the same fruit group. don`t compare henious physical degradation with theft. sheesh.
momonga

onceupopnatime,there’s a thing called “moral”. We often use this word in Europe, and some people obviously use it in other countries too. It is to resist the urge to violate ANY social rules even if you have the chance to do it without any consequences.If you think that people with moral are sick, then I believe you have serious problem with your socialising in the US. And it would give me some idea why so many American men prefer Japanese girls. BTW, I’m a woman too.

Tanya

Okinawa is not like the US. Crime is low, among the natives. On base (any American base) crime is higher. They do leave their cars running, open, keys in the ignition. It isn’t a problem until we, Americans, happen along. It’s sad.

http://www.cosmodeonline.com/blog Philip

It’s very common to see a car left running in Japan.
I saw an AMG Benz pimped out to the max, no person in sight, and engine running. It was in front of a conbini so maybe cameras? I still wanted to take off in it.
Chris

I think it says a lot about the crime rate of a culture that a car would be left running, when my friends lived in Switzerland they did the same thing.

Of course, it also leaves the door open (Haha) to getting screwed by people not culturally similar to you, so maybe its time to act just a tad more paranoid.

onceuponatime

i think the people that stole the police cruiser were japanese….so Chris…your argument doesn`t hold a lot a water.

http://sleepytako.blogspot.com sleepytako

Thank Bob there not American… oh wait nevermind…
E

Cue the benny hill music.
anon

People do really do that? Oh wow, Japan really don’t have crimes. Leaving your car running with keys is just stupid. That would be same as leaving your wallet in the street.
Trufax

Another sad case of the American military making our whole country look pathetic. But this is what happens when the Army and Marines both allow convicted felons to enlist…..

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net/ Jordan

Haha. Seriously though. This kind of thing really pisses me off. It happens over and over and over again in Okinawa. Something drastic needs to be done and it needed to be done years ago.
Rob

Let’s hold that thought until more information about the suspects come out, imo. They may have just been drunken idiots, and the fact that felons are allowed to enlist may not have had anything to do with it.

(Personally, I’m all for allowing felons to enlist. Making them serve their country for 4-6 years has a little bit better chance of getting their heads screwed on straight than leaving them in the big gray bed and breakfast, or putting them back out on the streets with no job or social structure to adhere to. YMMV of course.)

Trufax

Hold what thought? They are enlisted in the military, they swore an oath to uphold and can’t even uphold the simplest tenets of it.

Allowing convicted felons in the military is just giving them highly specialized killing skills they can’t get out on the streets. These thugs return to America and lead gangs in Chicago, L.A., New York where their skills are highly prized commodities.

Allowing convicted felons to enlist in the military to protect our country is as wise as allowing a convicted pedophile work for you as a babysitter to protect your children while you are away. I don’t need anymore facts about these soldiers. Drunk or not, felons or not, only an act of pure necessity would warrant stealing a vehicle. I find it highly improbably they stole the taxi to rush someone to the hospital.

not me

What good will these “highly specialized killing skills” (hyperbole alert) do them? Military training does not a gang leader make. And why you assume that any convicted felon must necessarily be a gang member or return to gang life after military service?

Rob is right. Military service makes it far more likely that they’ll straighten themselves out. Prison will do the opposite.

It’s not like non-felons are necessarily any better. The fine folks at Abu Ghraib were not convicted felons to my knowledge. My Lai was probably not orchestrated by a group of criminals. And so on.

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net/ Jordan

Depends on the felony in my opinion, but I’m generally on the “nay” side of this argument. I am all for holding off on calling them felons before we know their background. On second thought, they did steal a car which would now make them felons so… I have a headache…

Blacknimbus

“Another sad case of the American military making our whole country look pathetic. But this is what happens when the Army and Marines both allow convicted felons to enlist…..”

Do you send your children to public school? Don’t you know that somewhere in your country, a teacher was convicted at some point in the past of some felony? I’ll bet there was probably more than one this last year! Another sad case of the public school system making your country look pathetic. /sarc

Enough with the hyperbole. An organization is mostly judged on how they handle bad apples, not by the actions of a couple of it’s members. And I’m not aware of any news reports stating that they were previously convicted of felonies.

If a couple of 21-year old guys from Vermont working at a maple syrup factory stole and wrecked a tractor, it would make the local news and not much else. Surprise! Young men + alcohol sometimes makes for a volatile mix.

Trufax

I don’t think you know what hyperbole is. What it certainly isn’t is being skeptical of the notion that giving convicted felons weapon training and weapons is a good idea. But maybe you think that we can start giving the same training in prisons as part of community corrections, so that those people are more useful to society when they come out?
http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net/ Jordan

Well, I must say that if an organization is judged on how it handles bad apples, or perhaps how they prevent other bad apples from sprouting, they are doing a rather crap job of it in Okinawa.

Like I said though, assuming they are felons is silly. I will agree with you there.

Trufax

In this case and based on my prior statements, what I’ve said would only be hyperbole if the American military had a track record of making America look good around the world through its actions. Can you tell me, since WWII, how often civilians praised the arrival of U.S. forces?

Anotsusagami

Trufax, NO ONE reports good news like simple praise. When’s the last time you heard anything good about the GSDF for example, or teachers in japan? Where do you get your info that the American Military trains convicted felons? Are you just spouting anti-US rhetoric?

Trufax

The Marines and Army both have relaxed their recruiting standards. Both allow convicted felons to enlist in the armed services. Both train anyone that is enlisted in the armed services.

If the Marines and Army recruit convicted felons, and if the Marines and Army train all recruits…..the Marines and Army train some convicted felons.

Recruitment policies are readily available if you just do 30 seconds of research. Statistics regarding criminals with military experience as gang threats to urban America are readily available but with a little more than 30 seconds of research.

I’m not an America basher, I’m proud of my country. However, I am upset that dregs of society are allowed to represent our country in such an important capacity as serving in our armed forces.

Mister M

one more bad example from American Troops in Japan.
Pingback: Gyno examination stories | Medical Farse

Drunk marines steal taxi in Okinawa

Recent Comments

Further Reading

Babies Born on March 11th Receive Special Present

Washington Times Freelancer Slams Former Employer, Fails to Ethically Disclose Relationship?

Christopher Johnson Attempts to Silence Criticism of His “Gaijin Gulag” Article (Legal Threats!!!)

Tabloid Reports About Yu Darvish’s Love Life: Kirara Asuka & Miho Koga?

Does K-Pop Group KARA Have Ties to North Korea?

Tokyo Gate Bridge

Sara Errani Admits She Avoided Tennis Tournament in Tokyo: Feared Radiation

Chinese Workers Who Survived March 11th Tsunami Return to Tohoku

Why’s Zippei So Quiet? TV Dog Had Vocal Cords Removed

UN: Fukushima Radiation Health Effects Will Be Relatively Small / Not At All Comparable to Chernobyl

Categories

Archives

Subscribe

Japan Blogs

Korea Blogs

Linkroll

Other Asia Blogs