The Nagoya District Court on Wednesday sentenced a 40-year-old unemployed man to two years and eight months in prison for firing an air gun at a car while chasing it on the Tomei Expressway in September.

According to the ruling, the road rage incident occurred between around 7 a.m. and 7:10 a.m. on Sept 8 along the expressway in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, Fuji TV reported. The defendant, Tatsuhiko Sato, driving a stolen minivan, fired at the car of a 23-year-old man, damaging his vehicle in four places.

Sato’s lawyer argued that he was under the influence of stimulant drugs at the time.

Approximately 80 minutes after the incident, police in neighboring Gifu Prefecture found Sato’s minivan stalled along the side of the Chuo Expressway after having run out of gas. When officers approached, Sato fled the scene on foot, leaving an air gun and about 2,000 BB pellets behind inside the vehicle. There was also a woman in the passenger seat.

Accompanied by two friends, Sato turned himself to police in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, six days later.

Sato told police that after he caught up with the car in front of him, he tried to get it to move over by honking and flashing his headlights, but nearly hit it when it suddenly braked. He said he became angry and shot at it with the air gun.

Sato was also suspected of being involved in four other incidents involving people and vehicles being shot at by an air gun from a similar looking van between July and August on expressways around Kyoto and Kobe, but was not charged.

© Japan Today/KYODO