Man admits slamming into women who walk and use smartphones

TOKYO (TR) – There are warnings — and then there are warnings.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 49-year-old man who has admitted to slamming into multiple women he has seen walking while using their smartphones to “warn them,” reports Jiji Press (Sept. 26).

At around 8:50 a.m. on June 25, Yoshiyuki Kiuchi, a company employee, allegedly rammed his body into a woman, 34, as she used her smartphone while walking along a platform for the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line at Nijubashimae Station.

The woman suffered injuries to her right elbow and chest that required three weeks to heal, the Marunouchi Police Station said.

Kiuchi, who has been accused of inflicting injury, admits to the allegations. “Two years ago, I slammed into another woman who was walking and using her smartphone,” Kiuchi was quoted. “She went tumbling down the stairs. Since it is dangerous, I slam into [persons] to warn them about once every three days.”

Kiuchi, a resident of Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, surfaced as a person of interest after an examination of security camera footage.

Police are aware of two other cases that took place at the same station earlier this year. On the morning of June 7, a woman in her 30s suffered at least one broken bone in a similar incident. Then, on the morning of September 11, a woman in her 50s experienced a wound to her head.