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.
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.”