A 91-year-old driver was referred to prosecutors Friday for allegedly being involved in a hit-and-run accident that killed a small dog in Nagoya in July.
It is unusual for a case to be filed for an accident involving a pet and is seen as a reflection of the police's view that the man could have also potentially hit a 6-year-old girl who was walking the dog when the incident occurred.
The man is suspected of hitting the dog after driving through a red light at an intersection in the Aichi Prefecture city on the afternoon of July 28 as the child was walking the dog over a pedestrian crossing. He allegedly failed to report the incident to the police.
The suspect has admitted to the allegations, according to police.
The 3-year-old male Pomeranian, named Asahi, died soon after being taken to an animal hospital, the girl's family said.
Prefectural police say that the man did not seem to have symptoms of dementia and told investigators he had not realized that he had caused an accident until police began questioning him.
"I did not look ahead," they quoted him as saying.