TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested an elderly pickpocket in Shibuya Ward who regularly targets commuter trains during rush hour, reports Fuji News Network (Mar. 1).
At just before 8:00 a.m. on Monday, police apprehended Yasuharu Yoshii, 71, for the alleged theft of a wallet containing 21,000 yen from a rear pocket of a 61-year-old male commuter on Tokyo Metro’s Chiyoda Line at Yoyogi-Uehara Station.
Yoshii, who has been charged with theft, denies the allegations. “The detective had the wallet,” the suspect is quoted by police, according to Nippon News Network (Mar. 1). “I didn’t do it.”
Known as “rear pockets Yoshii” within the police force, Yoshii was arrested in a similar incident previously.
Police are now investigating the suspect’s possible involvement in 15 other similar incidents that have taken place since the fall of last year.
