TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly threatening a woman in her 20s with a utility knife in a park in Tachikawa City last month, reports Nippon News Network (Mar. 24).
Early on February 22, Taketo Kitaguchi, a company employee, allegedly brandished the knife in threatening the woman, aged in her 20s, as she commuted home in the park.
He then stole her smartphone and attempted to drag her into a public restroom to sexually assault her.
Upon his arrest, Kitaguchi, who lives in Tachikawa, denied the charges. He said, “I didn’t do it.”
According to police, Kitaguchi followed the woman with his car for more than 1 kilometer from near Tachikawa Station before committing the crime.
Kitaguchi fled when the woman resisted and screamed loudly. He later returned to the park after changing clothes to retrieve his car.
Police have seized the clothes he was wearing at the time and the utility knife from his home.
