On 17 June, 57 men and women between the ages of 16 and 26 received a shock when they were arrested for several traffic violations such as running red lights and weaving through traffic.

The charges come as no surprise seeing as they were participating in bōsō which is en masse reckless riding and a primary activity of bōsōzoku, Japan’s version of biker gangs. However, the shock came from everyone getting arrested and charged nearly two years after committing the act.

According to the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Transportation Investigation Division, all of those involved had admitted to the charges for what took place in 2011.

The police reported that one bōsō group of then 17-year-olds in Sagamihara city said, “At the end of that ride we were going to call it quits. Since it was the end, we would all have a party.” So, they planned a ride from there to Enoshima, sending out invitations to other bōsō groups in the area as well.

In the end 57 people had gathered for the ride. Of them 55 were then boys and girls aged 14 to 18 and two others were adult males, 20 and 24 years old. The charges they face now stem from a 53.7 km stretch from Yamato City to Ebina City where the group riding 40 bikes was allegedly driving erratically and ignoring traffic signals for about an hour and a half in the early morning of 30 October.

Upon hearing the news, readers in Japan were understandably surprised that the police would pursue this case for so long. However, many commenters were happy to hear of the arrest having been bothered by the illegally noisy customizations some bōsō groups choose to use.

Many believe that the number of active bōsōzoku is on the decline in Japan, but some say that the behavior is on the rise with minors.

Those particular boys who were disbanding their bōsō group wanted one last ride to remember, and it certainly was for the police.

Source: Yahoo! Japan News via My Game News Flash (Japanese)
Image: Wikipedia