2 days ago
Tokyo taxi driver on cocaine causes crash, begs victim to not call police
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police allege that a male taxi driver was impaired by cocaine when he crashed his private car into another vehicle on a street in Edogawa Ward last month, injuring the other driver.
Afterward, Takahide Kaneko, 26, begged the second driver to not alert the authorities, reports Jiji Press (Aug. 14).
The incident happened at 9:05 a.m. on July 4, when Kaneko swerved his car across the center line and rear-ended a light vehicle waiting at a traffic light.
The male driver of the other vehicle suffered bone fractures and other injuries, police said.
When police arrived, Kaneko appeared to be acting strangely. An analysis of his urine gave a positive result for cocaine.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Act regarding dangerous driving resulting in injury, Kaneko, a resident of Edogawa, denied the charges. 'I'm sure I caused the accident, but I was not driving while under the influence of cocaine,' he said. Takahide Kaneko (X)
At the time of the accident, Kaneko was off-duty. Immediately afterward, he urged the injured male driver to not alert anyone. 'Don't call the police! I'll pay 400,000 yen for damage this serious, so let's get this over with,' he said.
Security camera footage shot before the accident captured Kaneko exhibiting unusual behavior, including kicking his own car in a convenience store parking lot.
Since there were no signs at the scene that Kaneko applied the brakes on his vehicle, police believe that the effects of cocaine made it difficult for him to drive normally.
The arrest is the second for Kaneko in this case. He was first arrested and indicted on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act for using cocaine.
According to police, this is the first case in Tokyo of a driver being arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving resulting in injury after using cocaine.
