A 250cc motorcycle was rear-ended by a light commercial vehicle traveling at over 70 kilometers per hour at a traffic light. The university student on the motorcycle was thrown about 50 meters and hit all over, dying four hours later. For the first time under the Road Traffic Law, he was listed as an "Important Fugitive" and surrounded with a thick net for arrest. Although the police have received a large amount of information, the culprit, Hattori Yoichi, has not yet been caught......

At around 7:45 p.m. on June 29, 2022, in the city of Beppu, Oita Prefecture, at a county road intersection in Noguchiya, a light commercial vehicle collided with two motorcycles waiting at a traffic light, resulting in the death of Fujitani Shigeki, a university student from the same city riding a moped (19 years old), and a male university student riding a 250cc motorcycle (20 years old) was slightly injured.

The Beppu Police Station confirmed that Hattori Yoichi, a company employee from Hinocho, Oita Prefecture, fled after causing an accident without rescuing anyone, leaving behind the car license plate at the scene. He was wanted, and on July 4, a photo of his face was released, and information was called for.

In fact, before the accident, Hattori and Mr. Fujitani had met at a mall parking lot about 500 meters away from the scene. A friend witnessed Mr. Fujitani preparing to leave the parking lot on a moped, when his eyes met with Hattori, who was walking and playing music loudly, almost getting into trouble.

Just one minute later, the two left the parking lot, stopped side by side at a red light, and suddenly heard the sound of a car accelerating hard.

I noticed a light commercial vehicle coming fast in the rearview mirror, but before I could avoid it, I was hit. Mr. Fujitani was pushed about 50 meters away, suffering severe injuries, leading to cardiac and respiratory arrest, and died four hours later in the hospital he was taken to. His friend got into the car, fell to the ground, but miraculously escaped injury.

According to the police investigation, it was found that Hattori was speeding at over 70 km/h, exceeding the speed limit by 30 km/h. Because there were no brake marks at the scene, the investigation was conducted on suspicion of intentional rear-end collision.

At the age of 16, he stabbed a classmate and was arrested as a suspect for attempted murder. Hattori came from Ishikawa Prefecture. He spent elementary school, junior high school, and high school in Chiba Prefecture.

In his first year at Shishino High School, at the age of 16, he became angry when a classmate threw an eraser from behind. After class, he stabbed the other person in the left chest, causing serious injuries, ran away, and then took a taxi driver at a large supermarket about 5 kilometers from the school, threatening him with a knife and stealing the car, but immediately escaped after falling off the steering wheel. That night he was arrested in Chiba City for attempted murder.

According to the judgment of the Chiba Family Court, he was sent to a juvenile detention center. Although it is unclear how many years he spent after leaving the juvenile detention center, he entered and graduated from a private university in Tokyo. Since April 2021, he has been living in Oita Prefecture.

One year and two months later, a hit-and-run fatal accident occurred. As for why he fled the scene, it is said that Hattori was currently on probation due to past convictions, and his main purpose was to avoid the execution of punishment.

Because they could not find his whereabouts, the police announced new surveillance camera footage of Hattori on July 28. After the incident, the suspect ran away through a restaurant area about 1.5 kilometers from the scene in Beppu City, barefoot, heading to the busy National Route 10, waiting for a car to cut across on the three-lane main road, and crossed a place without a crosswalk.

On May 26, 2023, the police released a new video of Hattori shot by a friend, as well as surveillance camera footage. In the surveillance camera footage, on the afternoon of the day of the incident, he can be seen buying a cup at a store in the city, and in a video around 7:41 p.m., he can be seen walking near an apartment complex near the store wearing shoes.

In September 2023, the police headquarters listed him as an "Important Fugitive."

On September 8 of the same year, the police headquarters judged that it was necessary to investigate the case together with the national police. Hattori was designated as an "Important Fugitive." For this, starting from September 15 of the same year, it became a special reward investigation case, with the reward limit set at 8 million yen (police reward 3 million yen, association reward 5 million yen, hoping to resolve it as soon as possible).

According to the statistics of the Oita Prefectural Police, as of the end of August 2025, 11,059 reports have been received, with the Kanto region having the most out-of-town sightings, approximately 4,000 cases.

Where is the suspect Hattori hiding? Even now, the Beppu Police continue to widely collect information.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1842576381170700/

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