OSAKA, JAPAN - A police officer with more than 20 years of experience checking for impaired drivers was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of forging information on a Breathalyzer test, according to Osaka prefectural police.
Kiyoto Yamashita, a 57-year-old assistant police inspector at Sennan Police Station in Osaka, was arrested for tampering with evidence as well as drafting and issuing an official document with a forged signature.
The police suspected he drank alcohol himself and used his own breath to obtain incriminating test results.
The police station handled 79 drunk-driving cases last year. Yamashita was involved in 51 of these cases. Last July, he was awarded a prize by the head of the traffic department of the prefectural police for his excellent work.
The police, who searched the station on the day of the arrest, suspect Yamashita may have forged other drunk-driving documents. They quoted him as saying, "I've never done such a thing."
According to the Osaka prefectural police's supervisory office, Yamashita conducted a Breathalyzer test on a man in his 60s who was driving a minibike on Sept 29 in Sennan. Yamashita is alleged to have falsely recorded a result of 0.15 milligrams of alcohol per liter of air exhaled--above the legal limit. He then apparently issued a ticket to the driver based on the fabricated data.
According to the office, a summary indictment was filed against the man for violating of the Road Traffic Law by the Kishiwada local public prosecutor's office. The man paid a fine.
However, results of an investigation by the prosecutor's office showed that the amount of beer the man said he had consumed and the information Yamashita had written on the document did not match. The man told Yamashita he had consumed a 350-milliliter can of beer. However, the document said the man had consumed a 500-milliliter can of beer.
The man protested the discrepancy to Yamashita, but Yamashita only apologized to him and did nothing. The man then complained to the police station. Just before hearing about his case, the prefectural police headquarters said they received a similar complaint from another man.
Yamashita conducted alcohol Breathalyzer tests on both of the men by himself at a police box in the city. In principle, the test readings are supposed to be made visible to the driver.
However, Yamashita turned his back during the test so that the men could not see the data, according to police.
The police suspect Yamashita might have prepared the test-result document in advance by drinking alcohol himself.
Shinichi Minamino, head of the prefectural police's supervisory office, said: "It's very regrettable that a police officer in charge of cracking down on crimes was [allegedly] involved in such a serious irregularity."
Last year, he was assigned as a full-time supervisor for cracking down on drunk drivers after appealing to senior officers about his ability. "I'm good at cracking down on drunk driving," he was quoted as saying.
Yamashita made 51 drunk-driving arrests last year. This is much higher than the average number of about 35 cases among 64 police stations in the prefecture.