GINOWAN, Okinawa — Prefectural police arrested a retired police chief Friday after he allegedly left the scene of a traffic accident.
An Okinawa police spokesman said Kenbo Kishimoto, 63, allegedly was driving his car south on Highway 330 in the Ganeko district of Ginowan at 9:40 p.m. when he rammed a mo-ped driven by a 23-year-old Okinawa college student.
The mo-ped driver was waiting to make a left turn, police said.
Kishimoto, who retired from the Okinawa Prefectural Police Department in March 1999 as chief of the Ishikawa Police Station, allegedly fled the accident scene.
The student was treated at a local hospital for bruises on his back and wrists.
According to a police report, Kishimoto had been drinking awamori, an Okinawan rice liquor, in his home that evening and had gone out to buy some more from a neighborhood liquor store.
His family became concerned when they learned that he had gone out after drinking, a police spokesman said. When he was confronted, he told them he might have caused an accident on his way back from the store.
About an hour later, a member of his family accompanied him back to the accident scene, where investigating officers arrested him, a police spokesman said.
Kishimoto reportedly admitted to leaving the scene of the accident, police said. He is also being investigated for driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to a police report, the mo-ped’s license plate was found between the front bumper and the body of Kishimoto’s car.
