Police arrested a 42-year-old Chinese man on May 18 on suspicion of hit-and-run and negligent driving resulting in injury.

The police said the demolition worker hit and injured four sixth-grade boys on their way home from school on May 14 in Misato, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

They sent him to prosecutors on May 19 on suspicion he fled the scene to avoid being caught for driving drunk.

A 25-year-old Chinese man was also arrested and sent to prosecutors for riding in the car knowing the driver was intoxicated.

S/ Grade schooler who witnessed the accident / (The driver) said he was sorry. He said he's getting in the way here, so he'll go somewhere else and then drove away.

Investigative sources said the two suspects had drunk alcoholic beverages for several hours just before getting into the accident.

They said the driver likely drove off to buy time so that his drunk driving would not be discovered.

The following day, the police found his car abandoned at a parking lot about 2 kilometers away.

Another three days later, the driver turned himself in to police, saying he caused an accident.

After questioning, the police arrested him.

He admitted that his car hit the children but denied hit-and-run, explaining that he simply drove away because the victims said they were fine.

The suspect lives in an apartment building about 2.5 kilometers from the accident site.

We spoke with residents who know the suspect.

S/ Neighbor / What was characteristic of him was that he always had his windows open and spoke quite loudly.

S/ Neighbor / I most recently saw him about a week ago. He often talks in a loud voice. Last night too, he was being noisy. It was around 2:30 a.m.

The suspect moved here about a month ago.

S/ Reporter / How many people live in his unit?

S/ Neighbor / Probably two or three. But when he moved here, there were five or six people going in and out. I saw him in an SUV-like car. I park my car there, and his car was parked right in front so I spoke with him when I wanted to drive my car.

S/ Reporter / How did he respond?

S/ Neighbor / It was fine. He said he was sorry.

S/ Reporter / He put his hands together?

S/ Neighbor / Yes, he said sorry like this. He was good at saying sorry. I thought he looked scary but was polite.