crime

Suspect in hit-and-run says he left because victim told him to go away

21 Comments

A man arrested over a hit-and-run incident in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture on Jan 2, told police he left the scene because the victim said to go away.

According to police, Hisao Fujisawa, 51, was driving a truck when he hit a 44-year-old woman on a bicycle at around 11:10 p.m. in Sakai's Mihara Ward. Sankei Shimbun reported that Fujisawa was arrested after turning himself at a police station on Jan 3, saying he had caused an accident.

The woman suffered a fractured ankle in the incident.

Fujisawa was quoted by police as saying he stopped his truck and called out to the woman to see if she was OK, but she told him to go away, so he left the scene.

However, police said the woman tells a different story. According to her, Fujisawa did get out of his vehicle and apologized by saying "ごめん" (sorry). "But as I was crouched over in pain, he got back into his truck and drove away," the woman told police.

Police said Fujisawa has been charged with dangerous driving resulting in injury.

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21 Comments
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No way anyone would say go away, that hit means big money

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

Somehow I'm inclined to believe the victim in this case.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

He thought he could blame the victim.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

No way anyone would say go away, that hit means big money

Not sure if that's entirely true. In Japan, at least, riding a bike while drunk or using a cell phone or carrying an umbrella when an accident occurs would very easily put the onus of responsibility for the accident on the bicyclist, which would in turn make it in the cyclist's best interests to say, "No, I'm okay. Go ahead and leave." Not saying that's necessarily the case with this woman in particular, but it's certainly a possibility.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

called out to the woman to see if she was OK

didn't get out and go up to her to check

riding a bike while drunk or using a cell phone

Might just as well speculate that he was the one who was doing these things, that's why he came back the next day

2 ( +3 / -1 )

didn't get out and go up to her to check

Well, according to the victim (as pointed out in the article), he did get out of his vehicle.

Might just as well speculate that he was the one who was doing these things, that's why he came back the next day

Sure. Absolutely plausible as well.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Maybe she told him to get away because of his beer breath or wild-eyed demeanor, not to grant him permission to leave the scene of the accident.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

This is a MASSIVE news story.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Well, according to the victim (as pointed out in the article), he did get out of his vehicle.

Well, according to the driver (as pointed out in the article), he didn't

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Sensei,

You're arguing against yourself. You opened this thread insisting that there's no reason to disbelieve the victim. But now you're saying the word of the driver should be taken over the victim's, if only to allow you to be "right" about whether he got out of the car or not. What's your deal?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Agree with LFR - I've mentioned this story before.

A friends wife did exactly that. Hit from behind while walking by a young guy texting on his bicycle. Crashed to the ground and the young guy said sorry. She said I'm ok, don't worry and off he went on his bike.

Meanwhile, she stood and limped the 100ms to her home in agony. A visit to the hospital confirmed a broken ankle.

I couldn't believe it when I heard - but unfortunately it was true. And she had no contact details whatsoever of the guy.

Lovely sensible lady - must have been in shock at the time.

So I could quite believe at that moment in the article, with perhaps no obvious injury or blood, feeling somewhat shocked, she said "I'm ok, just go".

Or maybe the driver is a liar???

4 ( +5 / -1 )

If the truck had really hit the bicycle, it would have been broken.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

If the truck had really hit the bicycle, it would have been broken.

Are you suggesting the woman is lying here, even though the driver of the truck reportedly stopped and apologized?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

LFRAgainJAN. 05, 2017 - 02:32PM JST

Are you suggesting the woman is lying here, even though the driver of the truck reportedly stopped and apologized?

How could a truck "hit" a bicycle without damaging it? If someone is lying, it would be the police.

A bicycle can fall just by losing the balance and the rider may have a fracture.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Where does it say the bicycle wasn't damaged?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I think the guy may well be telling the truth. Once while driving I witnessed an accident, car changed lanes & clipped the front quarter panel of another car, all played out in front.

So I stopped behind them to check on things, the Mrs wanted me to drive off, but I figured since I seen the whole thing the keystones would be interested, BOY was I wrong!

No one was hurt but the women in the car that caused the accident were rather frazzled for a bit as their car after hitting the other car veered off across a few lanes & luckily was not hit or hit any other cars.

Anyway the keystones show up. I let them do their thing for a bit then I tried to say I saw the whole thing, while they couldn't give a damn, so after close to an hour I gave my name & tel# to people in the car that was hit.

The cops simply didn't give a damn, so for me lesson learned, DONT get involved, your not going to be able to help & could well end up tied into something you only witnessed, sadly my wife was RIGHT!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

when i was in ueno last year a guy walked out in to the side of the car at a crossing. and walked off the old man driving pulled up, and i tried explain the guy had just walked off in to the station. the old man driving spend a good few minuets thinking he hit me.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

CH3CHO

How could a truck "hit" a bicycle without damaging it? By making contact with the bicycle with a force insufficient to cause damage to it? Was that a rhetorical question?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Some of the excuses you see here for crimes being committed...who ever said the Japanese are not innovative?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Even if the guy is telling the truth, he still broke the law by leaving the scene of an accident. Strictly speaking, you are supposed to call the police and wait if you so much as graze someone with your car. Probably a good idea if there is even a slight chance of the person calling the police themselves later.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

No way anyone would say go away, that hit means big money

When you're a pedestrian or cyclist who has just been hit by a one-ton automobile, you're not going to be thinking straight. I had the same experience when I was hit by a car while on a bicycle and my instinct was to get away from this monster as soon as I could -- the animal instinct that probably goes all the way back to a monkey being kicked by a giant elephant -- and I limped into the police station myself.

Keep in mind also that lazy cops might consider a bicycle being hit by a car to be a vehicle-to-vehicle collision and tell the cyclist that he's responsible to damage to the driver's car caused by his flying body. Happened to me that time!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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