TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 43-year-old police officer from Fukushima Prefecture over the alleged assault of employees of a specialty hostess club in Shinjuku Ward, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 18).
At around 11:40 p.m. on August 15, Koichiro Takahashi, an officer at the Aizuwakamatsu Police Station, allegedly punched one male employee, aged in his 30s, outside the bar, located in the Kabukicho red-light district, in the face.
The suspect then allegedly bit a second male employee in the right hand.
Takahashi, who has been accused of assault, denies the allegations. “Since I was drunk, I do not recall [the matter],” the suspect was quoted by the Shinjuku Police Station. He was released on August 18.
At the time of the incident, Takahashi was off-duty. He had come to Tokyo while on holiday.
Prior to the incident, the suspect had gotten into a dispute with the employees over the amount he was charged inside the establishment, which is deemed a “girl’s bar.”
“It is indeed regrettable that an officer was arrested,” said Nobuo Kikusawa, a representative of the Fukushima Prefectural Police. “We deeply apologize to the citizens of the prefecture. After learning the facts of the case, we will deal with the situation strictly.”