Four Elementary School Students Suffer Serious and Minor Injuries After Driver Drives Immediately After Drinking Beer and Other Alcohol… 43-Year-Old Man “Goes Back on His Promise to Reflect” and Drives Without a License While on Probation

“I will never drive a car again.”

The man casually reneged on the words of remorse he had spoken during his trial—

On June 24, the Saitama Prefectural Police re-arrested Deng Hongpeng (43), a Chinese national and demolition worker residing in Misato City, Saitama Prefecture, on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Act (driving without a license). He is suspected of driving a luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) despite not holding a driver’s license.The offense occurred while he was on probation.

“Suspect Deng had also driven the same SUV without a license in May of last year. The SUV plowed into a line of elementary school students on their way home from school, leaving four with serious or minor injuries.At his trial in November of that year, Deng was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years. Despite stating that he would ‘never drive again,’ he repeatedly drove without a license, leading to this re-arrest,” said a judicial affairs reporter for a national newspaper.

“FRIDAY Digital” has reported in detail on the incident last May in which Deng injured several elementary school students. Let’s take a look back at the details of the trouble Deng caused and his astonishing excuses—

“Because the other person said, ‘I’m okay.’”

“I had been drinking beer”

The man, whose car plowed into a line of elementary school students, injuring four with varying degrees of severity, reportedly made these statements during police questioning.

On May 18, ’25, the Yoshikawa Police Station of the Saitama Prefectural Police arrested Deng on suspicion of violating the Act on Punishment of Motor Vehicle Drivers (negligent injury) and the Road Traffic Act (hit-and-run) for hitting the children and fleeing the scene.

“The incident occurred shortly after 4:00 p.m. on May 14.A luxury SUV driven by suspect Deng collided with a line of about 10 elementary school students who were on their way home from school. Four boys were injured, including an 11-year-old sixth-grader (at the time) who suffered a severe injury—an avulsion fracture of the right instep.

Although Deng briefly got out of the car, security cameras and multiple dashcams recorded him fleeing the scene without providing appropriate assistance. It has been revealed that Deng had been drinking beer and other alcoholic beverages at a Chinese restaurant in Misato City since shortly after noon, just before the incident.“It is believed he fled the scene out of fear that his drunk driving would be discovered,” said a reporter from the social affairs department of a national newspaper.

Four days after the incident, on the 18th, Deng turned himself in at the Yoshikawa Police Station, accompanied by an acquaintance. Since the police had confirmed he had been drinking, they changed the charge to “negligent injury while under the influence of alcohol, etc., and evading detection.” During questioning, Deng made the following absurd claim and denied fleeing the scene.

“There’s no doubt I hit him, but the other party (the injured child) said, ‘I’m okay,’ so I just left the scene.”

Mika Yanagihara, a journalist specializing in traffic accidents, offers the following commentary.

“Drunk driving is, of course, a serious crime. Furthermore, fleeing the scene (hit-and-run) is an extremely despicable act that carries severe penalties. This is because fleeing delays medical assistance, putting the victim’s life—which might have been saved with prompt measures like calling an ambulance—at risk of being lost.

I think it’s very difficult to protect children from accidents caused by reckless drivers. Simply installing guardrails in front of schools doesn’t accomplish much. We may need more comprehensive measures, such as school bus transportation to and from school, as is done in the United States.”

On June 24, the same day he was re-arrested, the Koshigaya Branch of the Saitama District Public Prosecutors Office indicted suspect Deng on charges of violating the Road Traffic Act.