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Saitama cops: Elderly driver plunges into convenience store; clerk seriously hurt

A 71-year-old driver plunged into a convenience store after mistaking the accelerator for the brakes in Saitama Prefecture
A 71-year-old driver plunged into a convenience store after mistaking the accelerator for the brakes in Saitama Prefecture (Nippon News Network)

SAITAMA (TR) – A 71-year-old male driver plunged into a convenience store after mistaking the accelerator for the brakes and seriously injured a store clerk, police said on Friday.

Saitama Prefectural Police arrested Hiromi Yamaguchi, 71, on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury after crashing into an outlet of Sunkus in Wako City, Saitama Prefecture, at around 3 p.m., the Asahi Shimbun reports (Dec. 2).

The male 17-year-old part-time clerk was seriously injured after he was crushed between the car and a wall, Fuji News Network reported.

Yamaguchi was quoted by police as saying he “pressed the accelerator when I meant to hit the brakes when I was trying to stop the car.”