Nikkei:

Fukuoka Pref. Tagawa Precinct 2nd Division Security Section Chief Patrol Officer Uchigata Daisuke (30 of Fukuoka pref. Tagawa-shi, Nara) hit 2 men crossing Prefectural Road 2 of Numamoto-cho, Ogura-minami-ku, Kitakyushu in his car at 2am May 29th.

Araki Hakafumi (64 of Soita-cho Nakamotodera) died immediately after receiving a strong blow to the head, and Tone Eisaku (79 of Oguraminami Kamiyoshida 3) died soon after breaking his spine.

According to reports of Oguraminami Precinct, Uchigata was on his way back to his hometown in Kitakyushu City on holiday. “I was distracted by a restaurant’s sign on the side of the road, so I was looking over at that,” he explained.

Oguraminami prefecture is questioning Uchigata on suspicion of negligent homicide while on duty, but they do not plan to arrest him. The precinct explains, “There is no fear of flight or hiding of evidence. The victims were crossing the street outside of a pedestrian crosswalk, so the level of negligence is rather low.”

Araki was reportedly on his way to a nearby restaurant with a number of people at the time.

Chief Sakai Yoshio of Tagawa Precinct said, “We express deep apologies to the families of the deceased. We will continue to work to the full ability of our leadership to prevent similar incidents” (Kyodo News)

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