OITA (TR) – Oita Prefectural Police arrested a 44-year-old male security guard after an attempted robbery of a bank in Beppu City on Tuesday, reports the Oita Godo Shimbun (July 10).
At just past noon, Akira Kato, wearing sunglasses and white cap, entered the branch and allegedly thrust a knife in front of a teller. “Hand over the money,” he reportedly demanded.
When the teller declined the request and instead pressed an emergency button that alerted police, Kato fled the scene empty-handed. At the time, there were about 30 employees and customers inside the bank. There were no injuries in the incident, police said.
About 170 officers were mobilized to search for Kato, who remained on the run for more than eight hours. At around 8:30 p.m., police apprehended him not far from the bank.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of attempted robbery, Kato admitted to the allegations, police said.
