OSAKA (TR) – Police are hunting for a runaway driver after a traffic officer was dragged approximately 20 meters in Amagasaki City and left with serious injuries on Monday afternoon, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (May 18).
According to police, the incident unfolded shortly after 4:00 p.m. when a 43-year-old sergeant from the Amagasaki-Minami Police Station spotted a vehicle suspected of interfering with pedestrians at a crosswalk. The officer, riding a white police motorcycle, pursued the suspect from Amagasaki City for about five minutes.
The suspect’s vehicle eventually came to a halt at a red light in the Tsukuda area of Osaka City’s Nishiyodogawa Ward. As the officer approached the driver’s side to question him, the man rolled down his window but refused to comply with police orders. He then suddenly floored the accelerator.
In a desperate bid to stop the vehicle, the officer grabbed onto the steering wheel. However, the driver refused to stop, violently dragging the officer for roughly 20 meters before he was thrown to the asphalt.
The sergeant suffered severe injuries in the fall, including a fractured left elbow.
The suspect sped off in the direction of central Osaka and remains at large. Investigators are currently tracking the man’s whereabouts and treating the case as attempted murder and obstruction of the performance of official duties.
