TOKYO (TR) – He is suspected in a string of thefts took place in the early morning hours, a trend that caused police to give him his own name.
At just before 6:00 a.m. on September 23, Hisatoshi Matsumoto, a 43-year-old demolition worker, allegedly broke into the Adachi Ward apartment of a woman in her 40s and stole a wallet containing 6,000 yen in cash, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 3).
About 15 minutes before that, he also allegedly accessed the balcony of another apartment located about 250 meters away.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of theft and trespassing, Matsumoto admitted to the allegations.
According to police, Matsumoto fled from the woman’s apartment after she woke up to a noise. After he tried to enter the other apartment through an open window, he was spotted by the 22-year-old man living there and ran away.
Since around September, there have been about 15 similar incidents that have occurred in the ward between late night and early morning. Believing the same perpetrator was behind the crimes, police labeled the culprit “Akatsuki no Nobi-shi (Early Morning Prowler).”
Police apprehended Matsumoto after an examination of security camera footage taken in the area.
