Odd license plate spotted on Skyline GT-R leads to arrest of pair for theft in Nagoya

NAGOYA -- An unusual type-5 vehicle registration plate spotted by a passerby on a Nissan Skyline GT-R sports car in Nagoya led to the discovery that the vehicle was stolen and the arrest of two men.

Aichi Prefectural Police on Oct. 17 announced the arrests of Kenji Ozeki, 53, and Masashi Goto, 39, both of unknown address and occupation, on suspicion of being in possession of stolen property. Police have not revealed whether the pair have admitted to or denied the allegations against them.

Police said that a passerby spotted the 1994 GT-R in a parking lot in Nagoya's Nakagawa Ward, and noticed that it had a license plate beginning with 5 next to the registered location, reserved for small passenger vehicles with engine displacements of 2,000 cc or less. The GT-R, however, has a displacement over 2,000 cc and it would normally have a number plate beginning with 3, for passenger cars with displacements over 2,000 cc.

Thinking this strange, the passerby reported the vehicle to police. When investigators checked it, they found that it was stolen, and when the two men turned up in the parking lot the following day, police arrested them on suspicion of being in possession of a stolen vehicle.

Police said the license plate was apparently stolen from another location and attached to the vehicle.

(Japanese original by Ayaka Morita, Nagoya News Center)