Apparently rideshares are a serious offense in Taiwan. Instead of relying on surveillance cams to get license plates to later cite or arrest drivers for making illegal rideshare pickups at the airport, the police attempted potentially lethal measures.
Two Aviation Police Bureau (APB) officers discharged eight shots Saturday morning while arresting a ride share driver suspected of picking up passengers illegally at Taoyuan International Airport, the bureau said.
While no one was injured or killed as a result of the shots, the APB reported that a Hong Kong passenger picked up by the suspect during the arrest was flung out of the vehicle in question.
The passenger, identified as a woman surnamed Lee (李), was subsequently taken to Taoyuan's Min-Sheng General Hospital for medical treatment following the incident.
The APB said the incident transpired at around 9:10 a.m. near the passenger pickup zone of Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 1 when officers of the bureau's Security Inspection Brigade noticed a rented white Tesla soliciting Lee.
Officers surnamed Hung (洪) and Chou (周) then approached the driver, who was later identified as a 43-year-old repeat offender surnamed Tsai (蔡).
After being stopped, Tsai refused to cooperate and tried to quickly maneuver away from the police before Lee could close the door on the passenger side of the rented Tesla.Lee was thrown out of the car and then almost run over by the Telsa as it tried to avoid the police car, but she was fortunately pulled to safety thanks to the assistance of nearby onlookers.
During his maneuvering, Tsai nearly hit a responding officer and a police vehicle with his Tesla and then pulled away in the opposite direction, prompting police to fire warning shots into the air and then targeting the back wheels of the Tesla to prevent Tsai from fleeing.
After eight shots were fired, causing the Tesla to stop, the APB said officers dragged Tsai out of the driver's seat before arresting him for endangering public safety.
https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202509200014
Airport cops, especially those policing authorized ground transportation, are armed?
There must be other things they could have attempted before going to shooting into a public, potentially crowded space.