French citizen charged with fatal assault in Kabukicho

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 33-year-old male French citizen for the alleged attack on a man in Shinjuku district who later died.

At around 1 a.m. on September 29, Laforet Alexandre Mathieu, an employee of a French company, allegedly pushed the 67-year-old man with both hands on a street in Kabukicho, causing his head to hit the ground hard.

The man suffered a severe blow to the head and died at a hospital where he was taken, the Shinjuku police station said Yomiuri Shimbun (September 29).

Mathieu had been drinking at the time of the incident. When he was arrested on suspicion of assault causing bodily harm, he denied the allegations. “I don’t remember anything,” the suspect said.

Before the incident, Mathieu allegedly approached a woman he did not know on the street and pushed the victim after he tried to stop her.

Police later changed the charge to manslaughter. The investigation is ongoing.