Man tells police he was assaulted by Asashoryu in car

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TOKYO, Feb. 9 Kyodo -
A 38-year-old man told police during voluntary questioning on Tuesday that
recently retired sumo grand champion Asashoryu had assaulted him in a car,
investigative sources said.
The Metropolitan Police Department may consider whether to question the
Mongolian himself about the incident, the sources said.
The police questioned the man at the Azabu police station in Tokyo, where
Asashoryu's lawyer had informed officers that a settlement had been reached
between the two men.
A weekly magazine reported late last month that Asashoryu inflicted injuries on
the man including a broken nose in a drunken fit during a January tournament
won by the 29-year-old.
The victim of the alleged booze-fuelled late night violence said in a written
settlement that he ''forgives'' Asashoryu over the incident, according to
people familiar with the matter.
Azabu police station officials quoted the man as saying that he ran into
trouble with Asashoryu in front of a nightclub where he works in Tokyo's
Roppongi district in the small hours of Jan. 16.
The man then got into a car with Asashoryu but got out on a street about one
kilometer from the nightclub and told a nearby policeman engaged in traffic
control that he had been assaulted by the yokozuna.
On Jan. 25, the man visited the police station and spoke about the incident. At
the time he had a medical certificate saying his injuries, including a broken
nose, needed a month to heal.
Asashoryu, the first Mongolian to reach the highest rank of yokozuna in the
Japanese sport, announced his retirement last week shortly after being summoned
by the Japan Sumo Association for questioning about the reported incident. He
secured 25 tournament victories, third on the all-time list.
==Kyodo
2010-02-09 23:50:51