Assaulted in Taipei

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
#1

As I was driving home on Sunday morning some moron cut into the scooter only lane and forced me up onto the sidewalk. I flipped him off. He got out of his car and gave chase to me, he was holding a bat btw. I outran him on my scooter and he proceeded to follow me through Hsin Chuan. I lost him several times but he kept finding me. Now I was at an intersection and he finally caught me. He proceeded to tell me to that he was going to kill me, well that’s what I understood. I kept cool because he had a bat. He then struck me in the upper back. A cop showed up and did NOTHING!!! I got half of the guy’s plate number and the make and model of car. What can I do? The FAP were kinda hesistant to step in, and they said it would take some time to process the charges. I went to the hospital and got pictures and x-rays and filled out a report. Should I:

  1. Go to the Canadian trade office and complain
  2. Go to FAP in taipei
  3. leave well enough alone

I waited a few days after it happened to allow myself to calm down. I was pretty upset.

#2

I would do 1 and 2. This guy needs some serious attitude adjustment.

#3

not one to get too involved in heated forum madness… but

firstly, terrible news, sorry to hear what happened.

if you do decide on the trade office route, try and see the head of or deputy head of mission, no one lower.

get on the FAP’s back, hire a lawyer, wite letters to the Presidents Office, the Mayors Office and anyone else. An email or formal letter written in English is very effective (in my experience with the Mayors office, Chang Hua Telecom, Pres Office etc)

It was wise to get it all documented, good move.

As for you flipping the guy… tough one, he could argue provacation. But following you around if disturbing, he should have cooled off.

#4

Is provocation of the finger a good defense in Taiwan? Please tell me no. What are you allowed to do if someone provokes you by hitting you with a baseball bat, or driving dangerously for that matter?

#5

sure it would be sad if the bird was seen as a defence, but if grasshopper hadnt done it the guy wouldnt have beaten him… or at least thats what the guy could say, and after all… this is taiwan, anything is possible. :s

#6

IF you got the exact make/model/color and at least the approximate year of the car, go to the police station in that area and tell them the guy did a hit and run on your car. If you ask them to do something, they’ll fob you off. Instead, tell them you want the guy’s name and address so you can have your insurance company sort it out. Keep mentioning insurance so they don’t sniff what you’re up to. With a good partial plate and a good description they should be able to come up with a match. Stake the place out and get positive ID on your man. What you next is up to you. You may decide to go back to FAP with your info and try to press charges. You may decide that he needs to find out what it’s like to be assaulted with a baseball bat.

#7

This isn’t the time to be nice and honest. You need to try the Taiwanese way and overplay your injuries–go for that Oscar award. All charges “take time to process”–go and file them ASAP. As a safeguard, get a private dick (usually those find out if your wife if cheating companies will do the trick) to find out the name and address of that guy–shouldn’t be more than a few thousand NT$.

Something must be in the water. This stupid and very common bitch ran into my friend on the sidewalk the other day and bitched him out–even though it was her fault.

#8

The real problem would be if this guy really is a baseball player. You might have to deal with his teammates. and you know that all baseball players are gangsters. These are the kind of people that are giving organized crime a bad name.

#9

Well I’m sure we’re all aware of Taiwan’s tap water issues. Grasshopper, sue this a-hole for all he’s got if you can. Take Flicka’s advice and overplay it as well. We can play their little BS game as well. :smiling_imp:
If he is allowed to get away with this behavior, it will only further vindicate how many of us feel about the law enforcement here.

#10

Always carry some pepper spray taped to your bike for easy access.
And try your best to find him; it is the only way to go.

#11

Try the cop shop for an address first. It’s that old rule of following the path of least resistance. It’s easier to give you an address (even though they aren’t supposed to) than to actually go enforce some law on this guy. Just keep on the insurance angle and give them no reason to believe it’s a personal vendetta. If you are polite but insistant they’ll give you the info to get rid of you.
If that’s a no-go then try the private detectives. Nail this bastard, no mercy.

#12

What were you thinking? You should have never flipped off the driver unless you were prepared to fight someone (probably with a weapon). Drivers in Taiwan can and will go ballistic on you.

A few years back a friend kicked the back of a car after the car turned right and nearly ran my friend, his wife, and his two kinds over on the crosswalk. The driver go out and beat my friend into a bloody pulp with a baseball bat on the spot. My friend spent two weeks in the hospital with a fractured skull.

I could tell you several other very similar stories, but I guess you know this now.
</end lecture>

If you don’t have the license number, you’re screwed. You definitely need to see the Foreign Affairs Police–the local police have no interest in helping you and (probably correctly) are confident that you will not contact your local councilman or legislator.

#13

As a rule you don’t give anyone the finger unless you are ready to go…

You were on a scooter and he still managed to catch you?..How the heck did that happen?

In the future, if you want to choose the flip and flight option, flee directly to the nearest police station and don’t mess around.

You didn’t take off your helmet did you?

I would leave it alone, the odds of this being a local gangster are fairly high in that area, and why risk being followed/threatened/harrassed everytime you get on your scooter?

Drop it, and be thankful you weren’t seriously injured…

JMHO

#14

Don’t exactly know why, but the bird is a call to arms here. Had that experience when someone on the back of my bike flipped someone in Taipei County. Buddy tried to grind us into the asphalt.

CK

#15

Thing about this though is that everyone in Taiwan thinks that anyone who uses threats of physical force or physical force is a gangster…
I some how doubt this… Taiwanese are just emotional and loose the rag quite easily and espically against foreigners since they think the foreigner will not persue or catch them

I have more than once given the finger… but I usually had an escape route… I had one encounter with some guy who after driving over my foot with his wheel… threatened me for some unknown reason ( perhaps for wearing some of the rubber of his expensive low profile tire when he drove over my foot) even though I was a foot taller than him and had a full faced helmet

I do not give the finger anymore as I am now secure in the fact that any person who is an asshole on the road is

  1. Inbred
  2. Has to collect his wife each day from the KTV as she is so so tired after all the anal action she gets every night
  3. Can’t read or write
  4. Lives a meaningless existance of anger
  5. Often pisses off worse physcos on the road, thus is a regular in the intensive care unit
  6. His kids look more white than Taiwanese and nothing like him, although they have the crocked teeth and crossed eyes of his wife
  7. Was abused by horny apes when he was in the intensive care unit

and finally even if you give him the finger it will not change his driving habits or attitude

#16

[my story]
Once, while waiting to turn left into an off-street (on the scoot, with the woman), a car behind us became impatient and blasted his horn several times. Feeling rather annoyed, I flipped him off. One second later, we turned into the off street, he followed and began to try and run us off the road. I simply stopped the bike and memorized his plate as he drove off in a crazed manner.

Next time, my friend…next time… :smiling_imp:
[/my story]
^That�s the last time I ever flipped anyone off, in Taiwan. (Or screamed at anyone, too. You know how us Aussies are, that’s a difficult thing to do!)

Get this bugger for all he’s worth. Find him, bankrupt him, break his knees.
(Well, maybe not that. But at least hurt his hip pocket pretty seriously.)
:sunglasses:

Good luck! And if possible, get pics!!

#17

Hey Grasshopper, sorry to hear what happened to you.

I have two cents to add here based on my own police experience after an assault.

You need to let them know you aren’t going to take no for an answer. Not a good idea to rant at them or anything, but if you can keep your cool through the endless times they will try to brush you off, or even encourage you to work it out on your own (as the FAP did to me), and politely insist on speaking to the next higher up, something will eventually happen.

In the end, I told the FAP that if they weren’t going to help, I’d forward a letter I’d written (and given them a copy) to the three English language newspapers as well as the major news netowrks in Taiwan, about how the police here do not do their job. Adding that you’ll forward it to the CTO will make it more threatening since the police seemed to think it would make it a country vs. country thing.

That’s if you go through with it. It’s been said here before, and I would consider it as well, that this guy might not be the sort to mess with.

I’ve flipped off maybe 4 people in four years here and three of them resulted in chases. So, yeah, no more flipping off in Taiwan may be the best policy.

Good luck!

#18

Here is my suggestion.
Put all the information right down to the very detail right here for all to see. With several thousand registered users here on Forumosa somebody lives in your neighborhood.
You might also want to contact the Canadian Society here in Taiwan.

#19

Best of luck resolving this. Unfortunately, unless you have witnesses, this probably isn’t going to go anywhere…and it’s not because of Taiwanese law enforcement either.

If you were in any major city in North America and had the same thing happen to you, the police probably wouldn’t do more than take a statememt from you…

#20

Sorry, no offense, but if someone in any city in the states hits someone with a bat and the cops know who did it that person would go to jail with some serious charges. A bat can easily be a lethal weapon with a single head shot…
All you have to say these days in the states is I want to press charges and someone is going to jail and the court will have to settle it. I know this for sure.