KANAGAWA (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday announced the arrest of an officer who had been out drinking for allegedly assaulting a taxi driver in Kawasaki City after he tried to dodge paying a fare, reports Nippon News Network (Mar. 4).
At approximately 5:15 a.m. on Thursday, Kenji Kodama, 38, a sergeant at the Kamata Police Station, allegedly pushed the chest of the driver, 63, on a road near his residence in Miyamae Ward after he attempted to flee without paying the 4,690-yen fare.
Kodama denies the charges. “I was drunk at the time, and I don’t remember anything,” the suspect is quoted by officers from the Miyamae Police Station.
Kodama was not on duty on Wednesday or Thursday. He had hailed the cab in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward after going out drinking.
“It is extremely regrettable that an official has been arrested in such an incident,” a spokesperson for the police said, according to NHK (Mar. 3). “Based on the results of the investigation conducted by the Kanagawa Prefectural Police, we will endeavor to strictly deal with this matter.”
