Hiroshi Ebina learned that the hard way when a 21-year-old female station attendant he got mixed up with took him down in one move having good old-fashioned judo under her presumably black belt.
It all happened on 26 August in Kanagawa Prefecture when Ebina tried to exit Keikyu Yokohama Station without paying the full fare. In Japan, train and subway fares are based on the distance traveled, so if you exit at a further station than you paid for then you must settle the difference before leaving.
The 34-year-old Ebina, however, figuratively said, “To hell with that!” and hopped the gate instead. At this point, the younger woman who worked there approached him to talk about it. Ebina allegedly replied to her by smacking her in the face several times. To which the woman, who happened to have a background in judo, then retorted with a shoulder throw sending him promptly to the ground. Following this, others helped her to restrain him until police arrived.
In an unusual twist for Japan, Ebina actually denied the charges against him saying, “I didn’t hit her. I just flicked her hat off.” Honestly, after covering scores of crime stories for RocketNews24 this might be the first time I read of a Japanese suspect not admitting to the charges against him. I’m almost inclined to believe him.
Source: Yomiuri Online (Japanese)
Top Image: Wikipedia – Mhultstrom
Video: YouTube – TomoNewsJP
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