Police will refer to prosecutors as soon as next week the case of an 88-year-old former senior bureaucrat who was involved in a fatal car crash in central Tokyo in April, according to investigative sources.
Kozo Iizuka, who was 87 at the time of the accident, is suspected of losing control of his vehicle while driving in the Ikebukuro district on April 19, resulting in the deaths of a 3-year-old girl and her mother and injuring eight others. The apparent cautious handling of the case by authorities, who did not arrest Iizuka and questioned him on a voluntary basis, has fueled speculation of favorable treatment due to his social standing.
Iizuka, a former head of the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, is believed to have floored the gas pedal at the time of the crash, the sources said Friday in announcing the referral to prosecutors. There were no signs he applied the brakes, they added.