TOKYO (TR) – The case remained unsolved for more than a decade — and then an investigator stepped forward.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 44-year-old man in connection with the unsolved robbery and assault that left a woman seriously injured in Arakawa Ward in 2014, reports the Mainichi Shimbun? (Mar. 3).
At around 9:30 a.m. on March 6, 2014, Shota Osawa allegedly pushed down a woman, then aged 84, on a street in the ward and stealing her bag containing 15,000 yen in cash.
The woman sustained a broken arm that took two months to heal, police said.
During questioning, Osawa partially denied the charges. He said, “I remember committing a bag-snatching, but given my personality, I don’t think I would have pushed anyone.”
Although the face of the culprit was captured on security cameras around the crime scene at the time, he was unable to be identified. As a result, the the case remained unsolved for more than a decade.
According to Oku Police Station, a male detective from the station began re-examining unsolved cases that had occurred in the station’s jurisdiction three months prior.
During that investigation, a man who closely resembled the suspect in the security camera footage emerged. He then tracked down the Osawa’s whereabouts and made an arrest.
The statute of limitations for robbery and assault was 15 years.
