[ivandiadser]

Woman drives home with body lodged in windscreen: police
January 12, 2010

A Japanese woman who drove home with the body of an 80-year-old pedestrian lodged in her windscreen has been arrested on charges of causing a deadly traffic accident and fleeing the crash site.

The 23-year-old driver was believed to have struck the elderly woman in the early hours of Sunday north of Tokyo before driving seven kilometres home with the victim's body wedged in the shattered windscreen, police said on Monday.

Michiko Sato, a catering school student, was arrested after her boyfriend called police to report the accident, a police spokesman said.

When police called at her home, they found the body still stuck in the windscreen.

"The suspect said she was so shocked that she didn't know what to do," the police spokesman said.

He added that Ms Sato was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.

She was charged with causing a traffic accident resulting in death and escaping after running over a person with a car and faces up to 17 years in prison, or a fine of up to ¥2 million ($23,700) if convicted.