Police on Thursday turned over to prosecutors their case against a National Police Agency superintendent who allegedly threw a tray at a woman working at a security check at Narita airport last year after being told an item he was carrying could not be taken aboard a plane.
Takayuki Masuda, 36, assistant chief of the NPA's Personnel Division, was suspended the same day for three months as a disciplinary measure, but voluntarily quit his post.
On Dec. 24, Masuda, a fast-track career bureaucrat, was stopped by the woman at the baggage inspection area at Narita International Airport for trying to take aboard cosmetics in a 150-ml container, according to the NPA.
Masuda then allegedly demanded that the woman let him take the cosmetics on board, telling her he was "a superintendent at the National Police Agency" and threw a tray used at the security check at her. She wasn't hurt.
Masuda was quoted as saying he "wrongly believed that 200 ml or more was the limit" to take aboard and that he regrets what he did.
The NPA has taken the issue seriously, given that a police officer refused to comply with security rules aimed at preventing terrorism and plane hijacking.
Naoyoshi Takatsuna, head of the NPA's Personnel Division, said the alleged assault "goes against his own duty."