TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a Ground Self-Defense Force member over the robbery of a bank in Akishima City last year, reports TBS News (Apr. 12).
On December 22 at 3:30 p.m., Hodaka Taniguchi, a 24-year-old private at the GSDF’s Tachikawa Base, allegedly pointed what seemed to be a gun at a male security guard, 29, at Yachiyo Bank during the loading of bags onto a delivery truck.
“I’ll shoot,” the suspect then said before taking two bags containing around 60 million yen in checks. He fled the scene by bicycle but was dragged down by a passerby. He fled again on foot after dropping the bags.
Taniguchi, who has been charged with robbery, admits to the allegations. “I needed money,” the suspect was quoted by police, according to Nippon News Network (Apr. 12).
Taniguchi became a person of interest after the examination of security camera footage taken in the area and the registration for the bicycle. A toy gun believed to have been used in the robbery was later retrieved in a forest by police.
