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Tokyo taxi driver arrested for killing pigeon in hit and run: ‘roads belong to humans’

  • Atsushi Ozawa ploughed his taxi into a flock of pigeons at a speed of 60km/h, killing one, local media said
  • Tokyo police reportedly had a veterinarian perform a postmortem on the hapless bird and determined its cause of death as traumatic shock

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Pigeons in Tokyo. The taxi driver who killed a pigeon was arrested for violating wildlife protection laws, police said. Photo: Shutterstock
Agence France-Presse
A Tokyo taxi driver was arrested for deliberately driving into a flock of pigeons and killing one, police in Japan said on Tuesday, reportedly because he was angry that the birds were on the road.
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Atsushi Ozawa, 50, “used his car to kill a common pigeon, which is not a game animal”, in the Japanese capital last month, and was arrested on Sunday for violating wildlife protection laws, said a Tokyo police spokesman.

Ozawa sped off from a traffic light when it turned green, ploughing his taxi into the bevy of birds at a speed of 60km (37 miles) per hour, local media said.

A taxi crosses an intersection in Tokyo. The accused reportedly ploughed his taxi into the bevy of birds at a speed of 60km. Photo: Shutterstock
A taxi crosses an intersection in Tokyo. The accused reportedly ploughed his taxi into the bevy of birds at a speed of 60km. Photo: Shutterstock

The sound of the engine reportedly prompted a surprised passer-by to report the incident.

Tokyo police had a veterinarian perform a postmortem on the hapless pigeon and determined its cause of death as traumatic shock, according to local media.

“Roads belong to humans, so pigeons should have dodged out of the way,” Ozawa was quoted by local media as telling investigators.

Police called his behaviour “highly malicious” for a professional driver, before deciding to go ahead with the arrest, broadcaster Fuji TV said.

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