Australian rugby legend George Smith was arrested by the Tokyo police on New Year’s Eve for allegedly assaulting a taxi driver after refusing to pay his fare, authorities said Wednesday.
Australian rugby legend George Smith was arrested by the Tokyo police on New Year’s Eve for allegedly assaulting a taxi driver after refusing to pay his fare, authorities said Wednesday.
According to the police, shortly after midnight on Dec. 31, the 37-year-old flanker, who played for Suntory Sungoliath in the most recent season of the Japanese Top League, fled without paying his ¥10,000 ($90) taxi fare and then injured the taxi driver who pursued him. Smith, who punched the 58-year-old male driver in the face and chest, was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident which occurred in the city of Fuchu in western Tokyo, the police said. A passerby called police upon witnessing the incident.
