TOKYO (TR) – Four men suspected in the robbery of an elderly couple at their residence in Shibuya Ward last year have not been prosecuted, reports NHK (Feb. 13).
At around 2:30 a.m. on January 11, the perpetrators, all with their faces covered, burst into the residence, located in the Hatsudai area, and tied up with couple. They then stole about 20 million yen in cash and jewels before fleeing.
About three hours later, the man, 93, managed to free himself and seek help from a neighbor. He suffered a broken bone in his face from being struck by one of the perpetrators. Meanwhile, his wife, 86, was unharmed, police said previously.
In September, police arrested Tatsumi Komatsuzono, an employee in the construction industry, Hiroki Sue and Yuta Sakai, each of no known occupation, and the fourth suspect on suspicion of robbery resulting in injury and trespassing. All four suspects, aged between 23 and 27, denied the allegations.
On Thursday, prosecutors with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the non-prosecution of the four. No reason for the non-prosecution was given, but persons connected to the case said it was due to lack of evidence.
Two other cases
Three of the suspects were under investigation in two other cases. In March, police also arrested Komatsuzono, Sue and Sakai over the murder-robbery of another couple.
On February 28, police found the body of Kuniko Kato, 80, inside the third-floor residence, located in the Toyo area of Koto Ward. She was lying face-up with her mouth covered in adhesive tape and her limbs bound. The results of an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be suffocation, police said previously.
Police alleged that the suspects intruded into the residence, killed Kato and stole a terminal for her intercom before fleeing.
In a third case, persons posing as police officers rang the door bell at another Hatsudai residence on February 1. After being let inside by an elderly woman, they bound the limbs of her and her husband and snatched 4 million yen in cash from inside.
Based on information collected at the three crime scenes, police believed that the same vehicle was used to flee.
Telephone calls
In the cases that took place in Shibuya, the victims received telephone calls from persons posing as their relatives prior to the robberies. The callers made inquiries about the couples’ addresses and cash on hand.
Police previously said that Kato received such a suspicious call last month in which the caller inquired about money she had available.
The statuses of the other two cases were not revealed.
