Taipei’s newly launched mobile police station handled its first case of social disturbance yesterday, stopping a fight involving about a dozen people outside a nightclub.
The melee outside an ATT nightclub resulted in two male foreigners and two Taiwanese men sustaining minor injuries. They were allegedly fighting over women.
According to police, four foreigners — said to be international students enrolled in an exchange program at National Chengchi University — were involved in the brawl. A 26-year-old German and a 21-year-old French man were injured in the fight.
Two Taiwanese were also injured, a 22-year-old male, surnamed Liu (劉), and a 28-year-old surnamed Yang (楊).
The clash was allegedly caused by the Taiwanese men taking offense when the foreigners made advances toward the Taiwanese women in the group, with Yang claiming that one of the women is his girlfriend.
It erupted into a full-blown fight outside the nightclub at about 4am.
Yang was quoted as saying in a television interview that everyone was enjoying themselves, drinking and dancing, but he got really annoyed when the foreigners made sexual advances at his girlfriend and other women in the group.
“The foreigners were trying to pick up women and some used body contact to harass the women,” he said.
The German student denied the accusations, saying he was just chatting with the women and asked them for their telephone numbers.
He was quoted as saying in a local TV news report that he was punched and hit in the head with a club.
His friends also got caught up in the brawl, he said.
The Taipei mobile police station was patrolling nearby and arrived shortly after it received a report of the disturbance, it said.
Sanzhangli Police Station chief Liu Kuang-heng (劉光恆) said it was the first major violent incident handled by the mobile police station, adding that it was effective, as it arrived within 30 seconds to stop the fight and restore order.
Liu said the principals in the incident have declined to sue the other party, but they will be charged by public prosecutors for breaking the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
The case will be handled by the small claims court in Taipei.
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