Employee at Kanagawa Care Facility for Disabled Says He Assaulted Resident “because he was in a hurry”

By Barrier Free Japan with an extract from The Yomiuri Shimbun

November 6 2023

Atsugi City, KANAGAWA Pref – On November 2nd, Atsugi Police Station arrested a man (37), a facility employee, for assaulting and seriously injuring a man (29) who was attending a Kanagawa Prefectural Support Facility for Persons with Disabilities, on suspicion of assault.

A 37-year-old employee at a prefectural support facility for people with disabilities in Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a male user, causing serious injuries that left his leg cracked.

The person arrested, aged 37, was a caregiver and employee of Aina Yamayurien, a prefectural support facility for people with disabilities in Atsugi City.

According to the announcement, around 2:15 p.m. on November 2nd, an employee tripped over the leg of a 29-year-old male resident in a walkway inside the facility, simultaneously pushing him on his back and causing him to fall forward, resulting in a serious injury and a fractured right thigh. The suspect has admitted the charges.

According to the police, another employee found the victim complaining of leg pain and took him to the hospital, where the fracture was discovered. A camera in the facility caught the employee apparently assaulting the victim.

According to the Kanagawa Prefectural Disability Services Division, the employee said that he was on his way to take another resident for a medical checkup when the resident spoke to him repeatedly, and that he assaulted the resident because he was in a hurry and his medical checkup time was approaching.

The facility is operated by the social welfare corporation “Kanagawa Kyodo Kai” under contract from the prefecture. In April of this year, a staff member at another facility in Atsugi city operated by the same corporation abused a resident.

Kanagawa Governor Kuroiwa commented, “We take this seriously as it is a serious issue that shakes trust. We will work to prevent it from happening again.”