OITA (TR) – Sunday marked three years since a hit-and-run incident in Beppu City left one university student dead.
Yoichi Hatta, the 28-year-old alleged culprit, remains on the run. He is wanted for murder by law enforcement, reports NHK (June 29).
On June 29, 2022, Hatta allegedly drove a vehicle that hit and killed a boy, then a 19-year-old university student, at an intersection in Beppu. He then fled the scene.
With the whereabouts of Hatta still unknown, police are continuing to seek assistance from the public in apprehending him.
On June 29, police appeared in public to distribute flyers with the suspect’s photo and other information not only in Oita, but also in Tokyo and Osaka and Aichi prefectures, calling for information.
In the center of Beppu, police officers and members of a support group for bereaved families approached people one by one, asking for their cooperation in the investigation.
Tsutomu Fujimoto, Beppu Police Station Criminal Investigation Division Chief, said, “We would like to ask for any information, even if it is trivial, so that we can find the suspect as soon as possible.”
Murderous intent
In carrying out the crime, Hatta drove his vehicle into two motorcycles stopped at a red light. In addition to killing the university student, the crash injured a 20-year-old man.
In September 2023, the National Police Agency designated Hatta as a wanted man for violating the Road Traffic Act. However, police obtained an arrest warrant on June 2 on suspicion of murder as the suspect had crashed his car with murderous intent.
Hatta is considered “highly wanted” by law enforcement. Such suspects appear in wanted posters posted outside police stations and other facilities nationwide. Hatta is the first hit-and-run suspect to have that designation.
Kazuya Aramaki, Oita Prefectural Police Headquarters First Investigation Division Special Investigation Team Chief, said, “Even trivial information is fine. We would like to receive information from people all over the country and use it to make an arrest as soon as possible.”
Persons with information on the case are advised to call the Beppu Police Station at 0977-21-2131.
