TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 28-year-old man who rappelled down the side of a building and into a store to steal Pokemon trading cards, reports Nippon News Network (March 29).
At around 5 a.m. on March 23, Kensuke Nakanishi, an employee at an IT company, allegedly broke into the trading card store in the Highashi-Ikebukuro area of Toshima Ward and stole 80 cards for the “Pokemon” and “Yu-Gi-Oh!” card games.
The cards are valued at a total of around 1 million yen. He also stole about 260,000 yen in cash, the Ikebukuro Police Station said.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of trespassing and theft on Monday, Nakanishi admitted to the allegations. “I did it to pay off a debt,” the suspect told police.
According to police, Nakanishi, who lives in Toshima, tied a rope to a railing on the roof of the six-floor building. He then rappelled down the side about 5 meters and used a tool to break a window for the store, located on the sixth floor.
The suspect surfaced as a person of interest in the case after police examined security camera footage.
“In high school, I was in the rock climbing club,” he also told police. “So I am not afraid of heights.”
