An 89-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting elementary school children for being “noisy” while they were playing outside a housing complex in Wakayama City.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 10 a.m. on Monday. Sankei Shimbun reported that the suspect, Yukichi Ishikawa, approached a 10-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl who were playing with a ball within the grounds of a housing complex. He told them they were making too much noise and and allegedly proceeded to grab the backs of the two kids and pull their ears.
Another resident saw what was going on and called 110.
According to police reports, Ishikawa has gotten into arguments before concerning the “noisy voices” of children playing outdoors and has argued with neighbors.
Ishikawa has denied the allegations. Police quoted him as saying, “When I tried to warn the kids before, they would run away, so I grabbed them this time so they would listen to me. I did not intend to assault the children.”
Source: Japan Today Image: ANN
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