SDF officer arrested for drunk driving after fleeing police

SAITAMA — A Maritime Self-Defense Force officer was arrested Sunday in Saitama Prefecture for drunk driving after his car hit a roadside electricity pole as he attempted to flee from police.

A patrol car came across Jun Egawa, a 23-year-old seaman from the Yokosuka Base in Kanagawa Prefecture, driving in zigzag fashion along a road in Kuki in the prefecture around 1:10 a.m.

When the patrol car attempted to stop the vehicle, Egawa drove off and crashed into an electricity pole 10 minutes later at a point 5 kilometers from where the patrol car first made contact, the police said.

A 23-year-old company employee was a passenger in the car, the police said.

According to police investigations, Egawa was driving the man to his home in Kuki after the pair had been drinking together at a bar in the city.

'I had a medium-sized mug of beer and five to six glasses of 'chuhai,'' Egawa was quoted as telling the police. Chuhai is a distilled liquor mixed with soda water.

Police plan to investigate the passenger for allegedly encouraging Egawa to drink in the knowledge that he would drive home later."