TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 47-year-old man who is suspected of stealing the wallets belonging to women in the Kabukicho red-light district, reports TV Asahi (June 14).
Last November, Hideaki Takahashi, a company employee, allegedly stole a wallet containing about 80,000 yen in cash from a woman in her 20s as she rode inside an elevator in the district.
“I am in debt. So I thought women who go to host clubs in Kabukicho have money,” Takahashi told the Shinjuku Police Station in admitting to the allegations. “I did this several times.”
According to police, the building houses several host clubs. Security camera footage showed the suspect in the area of the crime about three hours before.
One camera captured Takahashi following the victim after he watched her use an ATM machine.
Police are investigating whether Takahashi was behind several similar thefts that have taken place in the same area.