A Chinese man was arrested late Sunday night after he shot and seriously wounded a policeman in Misato, Saitama Prefecture, police said Monday.
Shi Hongping, 24, faces charges of attempted murder for shooting Sadao Hirasawa, 26, in the chest with the officer's own revolver. He is also accused of punching two other officers as they tried to question him and of obstruction of justice.
The three officers were called to a neighborhood of Misato by a resident reporting a car driving around for a suspicious length of time.
Upon arriving at around 11:45 p.m., the officers approached the car to question the four people inside. The vehicle's three passengers, however, quickly got out and ran away.
Police managed to catch up with Shi, but he snatched Hirasawa's gun from its holster and shot the officer in the lower left chest, police said.
Police believe Shi and the others were casing the area to commit a burglary.
Shi was carrying tools believed to be used for picking locks.
Several break-ins in which locks were picked have been reported in the area since August, police said.
Police also took into custody for questioning the driver of the car, a 46-year-old Japanese man from Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.