Osaka prefectural police on the 6th arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder and obstruction of public duties after he sped off from a police questioning in Sakai in 2024 and threw an officer from the hood of his car. The suspect, Yoshida Masa, whose address and occupation are unknown, had been on a wanted list and was detained in Cambodia in a separate case, Kyodo News reported.
Investigators say he started the car at around 3:55 a.m. on May 8, 2024, in a convenience store parking lot in Nishi Ward, Sakai, and threw off a 41-year-old police lieutenant who had jumped onto the hood, causing minor injuries. He has declined to admit or deny the charge, saying he will talk once his lawyer arrives.
According to the prefectural police, the lieutenant and other officers on patrol spotted what looked like a baton inside a parked car. When they knocked on the body of the vehicle, the suspect, who had been lying in the back seat, moved to the driver's seat and accelerated away, colliding with patrol cars as he fled. He later left Japan for Cambodia.
He was placed on the wanted list on the 18th of the same month. In September this year, police received information that he had been detained in Cambodia, and the warrant was executed on the plane carrying him back to Japan.