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Aomori: Man accused of kidnapping son at festival

AOMORI (TR) – Aomori Prefectural Police have arrested a 23-year-old man who is estranged from his wife for allegedly kidnapping their son at the Aomori Nebuta Festival in Aomori City on Monday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 6).

At around 9:00 p.m., Hyuma Yonekura, an employee at a scaffolding factory, allegedly used his car to kidnap his son, a preschooler, from a street in the Honcho area during the festival.

Yonekura, who was arrested on suspicion of abducting a minor the following day, partially denies the allegations. “I took [my boy] away, but it was not forcibly,” the suspect was quoted by police.

After the incident, an acquaintance of the boy’s mother tipped off police. Officers found the boy, who lives with his mother, at the residence of the suspect in Hachinohe City at around 11:25 p.m. the same day.

The boy, who was uninjured in the incident, was taken into protective custody, police said.