TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 43-year-old man from Saitama Prefecture for allegedly assaulting and injuring a taxi driver and fleeing without paying the fare, reports the Sankei Shimbun (June 19).
Early on June 1, Yuta Mochizuki, an office worker, allegedly kicked and broke the protective glass separating the driver from the passenger multiple times in Wako City, Saitama Prefecture.
Mochizuki then assaulted the driver by pulling his clothes while the cab was parked at a gas station in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo. After the suspect got out of the cab, he assaulted the driver, hitting him with his elbow. The driver suffered injuries that took two weeks to heal.
He then fled without paying the fare of 6,300 yen.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of robbery resulting in injury and causing property damage, Mochizuki, who lives in Wako, admitted to most of the allegations. “I was drunk and don’t remember, but I’m sure I did it,” he told the Itabashi Police Station
The incident started after Mochizuki boarded the cab in Wako. When the male driver asked the destination, Mochizuki became enraged and began to act violently.
