A convenience store worker was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of severely injuring a 70-year-old customer who had criticized his handling of change at the counter, police said.
Tsukasa Hanazawa, 32, allegedly threw the elder man down, slammed his head against the floor and punched him in the face at the convenience store in Chiba City, near Tokyo, at around 6:50 a.m.
The customer was taken to a hospital and remains unconscious, the police said.
According to the police, Hanazawa admitted to the charges, saying he lost his temper after the customer admonished him because some of change Hanazawa handed him fell out of his hand.
Another clerk at the convenience store reported the incident to the police. The elder man had visited the convenience store to buy cigarettes.
