Early on Monday, a warehouse in Kuki caught fire. Early the following morning, police apprehended 61-year-old Fumio Okuma, of no known occupation, on suspicion of arson. He was in possession of a box of matches, reports Nippon News Network (Aug. 7).
“I have no recollection of it at all,” Okuma told police in denying the charges. “I was out on my bicycle to relieve the stress that had built up in my daily life.”
Okuma was sent to prosecutors on Wednesday morning.
On August 4, orange flames split the darkness as they rose from a home in Okegawa. Video captured a car parked nearby fleeing in a hurry as flames spread nearby. Burning objects could be seen falling onto the road as the house was engulfed in intense flames and smoke.
This fire was one of six started on that day. “This is what remains of the fire,” a victim of one of the blazes said to the network in referring to a matchstick. “It isn’t the type of matchstick that I use. The police found it. It was lying around here.”
Okuma became a person of interest in the case after an examination of security camera footage. According to the police, Okuma left his home on his bicycle at around midnight on the August 6.
“I always carry them with me”
He was then spotted by an officer on patrol. Regarding the matches, he said, “I always carry them with me.” He was then taken into custody on a voluntary basis and arrested.
When the network asked Okuma’s brother whether the matches he was carrying were used for cigarettes, he said, “I don’t know anything about that.”
Police are now investigating whether Okuma was indeed behind the other eight other fires started under suspicious circumstances.
