SAITAMA (TR) – There have been a series of bag-snatching incidents across the prefecture. Police recorded 12 thefts over a three-day period, reports TV Asahi (Feb. 27).
Camera footage taken in Saitama City’s Minuma Ward on the night of January 24 shows a motorbike driving against traffic in front of a parking lot. A bicycle appears to be chasing it from behind.
According to police, the victim was a 14-year-old boy whose backpack was stolen by two riders on the motorbike.
When the victim chased after them, the two men looked at the contents of the backpack. When he approached, they abandoned the backpack and fled.
Two minutes earlier, there had been another snatch theft in the same Ward. Forty minutes later, another one occurred in neighboring Iwatsuki Ward.
Koshigaya, Misato and Soka cities
The rash of thefts did not stop there.
Three more incidents took place in Koshigaya, Misato and Soka cities the following day.
“A tandem motorbike took my backpack that was in the front basket of my bicycle,” said the 40-year-old female victim in the Koshigaya case, which took place at 6:31 p.m.
Seventeen minutes later, a 65-year-old man in Koshigaya was victimized in a similar situation.
“My bag in the front basket of my bicycle was snatched while I was waiting at a traffic light,” she said.
The following night, a man had his backpack snatched from the front basket of his bicycle Saitama City’s Kita Ward. One other case took place in Satte City, two others in Kuki City.
All of the cases took place between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Police are investigating whether they are all related.
