70-year-old arrested after brawl with over 10 bikers

Age ain’t nothing but the number of people you can fight at once.

I’m still far from 70, but it’s already hard to fight the urge to just get under a wool shawl and whittle something by the fire from time to time. So it’s amazing to see the elderly still out there getting into cinematic one-on-ten fistfights.

That’s probably for the best though, because it ended poorly for 70-year-old Kazuharu Okamoto of Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture. The president of a transportation company is currently recovering from a broken face while also facing charges of reckless driving and assault after an altercation with more than ten bikers.

The incident occurred on 4 January when Okamoto was driving in nearby Handa City behind a pack of over 10 touring motorcycles. According to police, he became enraged from being behind the pack and gradually driving closer and closer to their rear. This upset the bikers who confronted Kazuharu about his tailgating. The details about how things escalated aren’t clear yet, but one thing led to another and a brawl broke out between the senior and the double-digit group of motorcycle enthusiasts.

The next day, four men in the group – all of whom are said to be in their 40s and 50s – were arrested for breaking bones in Okamoto’s face from punching and kicking him. However, they all claimed that he swung first.

A few days later, on 10 January, police took Okamoto into custody for assault because at the time he had punched a 48-year-old woman in the group in the head. She was wearing a helmet at the time, but is still said to have received light injuries from the blow.

▼ A dramatization of the fight based on reports

In a subsequent investigation, the police reviewed the footage on Okamoto’s dash cam and on 20 January additionally charged him with “obstructive driving” which is the legal term for road-rage-related reckless driving. He currently denies that charge.

Unfortunately, there still aren’t many details about the nature of the fight that occurred beforehand. But the currently known fact of a lone senior citizen taking on over 10 people at the same time was enough to impress readers of the news online in the following comments.

“He’s keeping healthy.”
“Grandpa thinks he’s Mad Max.”
“It sounds like a bunch of bikers tried to gang up on him, but it was probably just a bunch of normal people riding around.”
“I wonder if the bikes all started swarming around him. I could see that happening.”
“One…on…ten? That’s wild.”
“Over ten of them and they still lost. lol”
“Maybe the bikers were just too afraid to hit him because it might have killed him.”
“I think that lady should sue the helmet company.”

Like in other countries, there are many different kinds of bikers in Japan. The media is using the term “bike shudan” (bike group) rather than “bosozoku” which usually applies to the teenage bikers known for their dangerous riding and fights. That would also suggest that these people were likely more of the weekend-warrior type motorcycle enthusiasts than actual sons of anarchy.

▼ Sadly, we can’t even account for the location of our own on-staff bikers at the time of the incident

In addition, the fact that the police seem to be pursuing Okamoto’s actions rather than those of the others makes it appear as though he was the real instigator of violence in this altercation. So, if you too find yourself a long-gone daddy with fists of steel and a nose for trouble well into old age, please remember to exercise restraint and NOT take on nearly a dozen of people at once. It can only end badly.

Source: Chukyo TV, Metere, CBC, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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