A 25-year-old man was arrested for theft in Iwakuni City on 14 May after taking a new Lexus for a test drive from a dealership in Kurashiki City, two prefectures and 180 km (112 mi) away.
According to the police investigation, the suspect Shota Ishibashi wanted to visit his grandmother in Fukuoka, 422 km (262 mi) away. However, being unemployed he was unable to afford the trip. Then he got a brilliant idea and headed down to his local Toyota dealer.
At the showroom, Ishibashi inquired about buying a car when was presented with a questionnaire to fill out. He must have lied like a rug since Toyota dealers probably don’t make a habit of lending out 7,900,000 yen (US$77,000) luxury cars to unemployed 25-year-olds.
In fact, they trusted him so much that a dealer didn’t even accompany him for the test drive they offered. They simply told him to “be back in 30 minutes.” When the car hadn’t been returned in the following two hours, the dealers figured something was up and called the cops.
The police then used the onboard GPS tracker to locate the car in a supermarket parking lot about half way between Kurashiki and Fukuoka. Authorities in the area promptly moved in and arrested Ishibashi for theft.
One thing we can take away from this event: since no one rode in the passenger seat, Ishibashi could have done anything in the car as long as he was back in 30 minutes. So next time you need to run some errands, pick up your girlfriend at her parent’s home, or crush some cans for recycling, just head down to your local luxury car dealership and take a free ride…
Source: Itai News (Japanese)
Image: Amazon