Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had harsh words for the police on Tuesday after viewing TV footage of two cops bungling an arrest-fleeing from an assailant and nearly letting the suspect escape in their patrol car.

``What on earth is this? A police officer's job is to seize the offender. What kind of training are they receiving?'' Koizumi demanded of Yoshitaka Murata, the National Public Safety Commission chairman.

Murata, whose commission oversees the police, replied: ``It's a disgrace. I must apologize to the public.''

Murata later said he had instructed police authorities to investigate the case.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the incident occurred Saturday, when a passenger car driven by a 26-year-old man crashed into bushes along a national road in Daiba in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Officers from the Tokyo-Suijo police station rushed to the scene.

One of the officers tried to talk to the driver, who was still in the car, but the man suddenly got out and came at two of the officers with what looked like a stick. The two officers fled.

The man then got in a patrol car which was parked nearby with the motor running. The suspect tried to drive away, but police officers yanked him out of the car. They arrested him on the spot for attempting to steal the patrol car.(IHT/Asahi: February 23,2005)