Miscellaneous

Man Mistakes Himself for Firestorm; Sets Self On Fire, Dies Before He Can Save the World

Straight outta Tokyo, this is bizarre, and proves that sometimes the cops are dumber than the criminals:

Hifumi Kubota, 45, was taken for questioning to a police station in the central Japanese city of Nagoya on Saturday after a woman who was living with him told police that he was acting violently. When officers came to his house, "he poured kerosene over himself in front of police," a police spokesman said.

Kubota refused to change his kerosene-soaked clothes at the police station and asked to smoke during questioning, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun and other Japanese media. Despite no-smoking rules in the building, a police official gave him a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. When Kubota stood up, his right knee was ablaze and he quickly turned into a fireball, the reports said.

The police spokesman declined to give further details, but said Kubota was rushed to hospital where he died Sunday due to burns over a wide area of his body.

Full post as published by Quiz Law on May 12, 2008 (boomark / email).