TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 43-year-old man who has admitted to carrying out the theft of a bag in Edogawa Ward so he can play pachinko, reports TV Asahi (Apr. 3).
At around 9:00 a.m. on March 22, Nobuhide Sekimoto used a motorbike to come up from behind a woman, 55, as she commuted home on a road in the Nakakasai area and snatch her bag containing around 35,000 yen in cash.
“[The crime] was necessary for pachinko and living expenses,” the suspect was quoted by police in admitting to the allegations.
Police are aware of 7 other similar incidents that have taken place in the same area since February. The value of lost property is around 500,000 yen.
Police are now investigating whether Sekimoto was also behind those cases.
