By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — A Kaohsiung man who climbed into the back of a police car and claimed he had mistaken it for his ride might have got away with it, had his friends not filmed the joke and posted it online.
The incident occurred at about 5:45 a.m. Monday on Datong 1st Road in Sinsing District (新興區), where officers were conducting a watch patrol.
According to the United Daily News, the approximately 30-year-old man opened the patrol car’s rear door and sat down while a friend recorded the encounter and laughed.
An officer inside the vehicle noticed the unexpected passenger and immediately ordered him out.
The man said he had been drinking and opened the wrong car door. A caption accompanying the video claimed the group had called an unlicensed taxi with a similar license plate.
Police reprimanded the man but did not detain him at the time.
That changed after the video began circulating online Tuesday morning. Sinsing Precinct said the footage suggested that the group had deliberately staged the encounter to provoke the officers and produce a social-media video.
Police are reviewing surveillance recordings to identify the man and plan to summon him for questioning.
The precinct said that entering the patrol car and recording the incident may have interfered with officers’ ability to perform their duties. The case could be handled under the Social Order Maintenance Act, which covers clearly improper conduct directed at public officials while they are working.
Police added that patrol vehicles are essential equipment, not entertainment props.
The man’s next trip to the police station may therefore be somewhat less amusing.
