HOKKAIDO (TR) – Hokkaido Prefectural Police have arrested three men who are suspected in four robberies of convenience stores in Chitose City in roughly one hour, reports NHK (May 28).
At just past 11:30 p.m. on May 27, construction workers Yamato Tachibana, a 21-year-old resident of Tomakomai City, and Kyoichi Aida, a 20-year-old resident of Chitose, allegedly wielded a knife in the robbery of 58,000 yen in cash from an outlet of Family Mart in the Yumai area.
Over an approximately 60-minute period, similar incidents took place in Chitose. Using information from witnesses, police launched a search.
At around 1:00 a.m., police stopped a car driven by 26-year-old Yuta Kobayashi running a red light. Tachibana and Aida were found inside the vehicle. Police subsequently accused Kobayashi of violating the Road Traffic Act. After questioning, the other suspects were taken into custody on suspicion of robbery.
Police are now investigating whether the suspects were responsible for the other three incidents.
