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Chiba: Man, 73, stabbed convenience store clerk during theft

CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police have arrested an elderly man for allegedly stabbing a clerk at a convenience store in Yotsukaido City while shoplifting, reports TBS News (Dec. 17).

At just past 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Hirotaka Sereta, 73, attempted to leave the outlet of 7-Eleven in the Onagi area with an item he didn’t pay for. When he was accosted outside by the male clerk, 25, the suspect slashed him with a knife to the upper body.

Sereta then fled the scene. The clerk was transported to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, police said.

A man, 73, stabbed a clerk at a convenience store in Yotsukaido City on Sunday while shoplifting (Twitter)

Sereta became a person of interest after an examination of security camera footage. Police apprehended him at a lodging facility in Sodegaura City on Monday night.

Upon his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder, Sereta denied having murderous intent. “I stabbed [him] because I was almost caught by shoplifting,” the suspect was quoted. “I didn’t intend to kill.”