TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 36-year-old male employee at a subway station over the alleged theft of a wallet from a commuter inside another company’s train, reports Fuji News Network (Nov. 2).
A quick-thinking commuter filmed Kuniharu Hirasawa, an employee at Tsukishima Station on the Toei Oedo Line, as he carried out the act.
At just past midnight on October 31, the suspect allegedly stole the wallet of a man as the victim slept inside a carriage of the JR Keihin Tohoku Line.
“I do not recall [the matter],” the suspect was quoted by police in denying the allegations.
Caught on tape
Prior to the incident, the suspect stood in front of the seat where the victim was sleeping.
Across the carriage, a third man starting filming with his smartphone after he saw Hirasawa, as he later told the network, “behaving suspiciously.”
In footage shown by the network, Hirasawa first sees the wallet of the passed-out victim. After picking it up, he conceals it between the back of the seat and the snoozing owner.
When the train arrives at JR Nippori Station, Hirasawa reaches behind the victim’s back, grabs the wallet and disembarks the train.
The second man follows with the smartphone still filming. A third man then grabs Hirasawa on the platform. After a struggle, the suspect surrenders.
