TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday arrested a 61-year-old man for allegedly attacking an elderly woman employed at a real estate in a dispute over unpaid rent earlier this month in Shinagawa Ward, reports TV Asahi (June 30).
At around 9:30 a.m. on June 20, Nobuharu Suganuma allegedly came up from behind the woman, 68, as she pedaled to work on a bicycle in the Minamioi area and repeatedly beat her in the head with a blunt object. The woman, who lost consciousness at one point, suffered a skull fracture, police said.
According to police, the company employing the woman manages the residence of the suspect. In the recent past, the woman had visited the residence each month to pester the suspect about paying the full amount of rent.
Suganuma, who has been accused of attempted murder, admits to the allegations. “She was bad-mouthing me to the other neighbors,” the suspect told police. “This is not an unjustified resentment.”
Suganuma, who lives near the crime scene, became a person of interest after an examination of surveillance camera footage taken in the area showed him riding a bicycle just prior to the incident. Police searched his residence on Tuesday.