Police send papers on Asashoryu to prosecutors over alleged assault

+

TOKYO, July 12 Kyodo -
The Metropolitan Police Department has sent prosecutors papers on former sumo
grand champion Asashoryu for allegedly drunkenly assaulting and injuring a man,
investigative sources said Monday.
According to the police, the 29-year-old Mongolian former yokozuna, whose real
name is Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, and the 39-year-old man got into an argument in
front of a nightclub in Tokyo's Roppongi entertainment district in the early
hours of Jan. 16. A January sumo tournament was being held at that time.
The ex-sumo grand champion is suspected of inflicting injuries on the man,
including a broken nose, in a car in front of the nightclub, the police said.
The man told a policeman engaged in traffic control about 1 kilometer from the
scene that he had been assaulted by the then-yokozuna, they said.
Asashoryu told police during questioning in mid-May that his hand may have
''touched (the man) in the car.''
Although the police filed the case with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors
Office on Friday, the police are not seeking an indictment of the former sumo
wrestler partly because the victim said he would not file a complaint and the
two have reached a settlement.
The man has also submitted a copy of a written settlement given to Asashoryu's
side saying he ''forgives'' the sumo wrestler over the incident.
Stablemaster Takasago said he feels responsibility for the scandal involving
Asashoryu, who belonged to his stable, and will closely watch what decision
prosecutors will make.
After the alleged violence by the then-yokozuna grabbed headlines, he
eventually announced his retirement from the national sport on Feb. 4, saying
he had caused ''a lot of trouble.''
==Kyodo
2010-07-13 00:06:53