Press "Enter" to skip to content

Man who ‘lost job due to coronavirus’ breaks into store to steal instant noodles

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a man in his 60s who allegedly broke into a store in Toshima Ward after losing his job due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, reports NHK (Apr. 25).

A man stole instant noodles from a store on April 23

At around 2:00 a.m. on April 23, the man, who was not named, allegedly broke into the grocery store and stole about 20 items, including instant ramen, rice, alcohol and vegetables, valued at around 10,000 yen.

“I was hungry after I lost my job due to the new coronavirus,” the Mejiro Police Station quoted the suspect, who had stuffed the goods into a backpack.

During the incident, the suspect triggered a security system. Officers arriving at the scene arrested the suspect.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of coronavirus infections in Japan rose by 172 to 14,325 on Monday. The figure has been trending down. Exactly one week before, it was up 345.