CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police launched an investigation after three intruders broke into a home in Noda City early Wednesday and robbed an elderly couple, reports TV Asahi (Feb. 25).
A little after 2:00 a.m., a person in the residential area of Odonoi alerted police about “an assault with a hammer and a stolen safe.”
According to police, the three intruders broke into the house while the couple was sleeping. They then tied up the man, aged in his 80s, and hit him multiple times in the head with what appeared to be a crowbar.
They also wrapped the woman’s face in a cloth before stealing the safe and fleeing.
The man suffered minor head injuries, police said.
All three men were dressed in all black and had towels wrapped around their mouths.
Police are investigating the incident as a case of robbery and assault.
Similar incident
A similar incident took place in Kimitsu City the same prefecture on February 2.
In that case, three men dressed all in black and wearing balaclavas broke into the house, stole a safe containing approximately 2 million yen in cash and fled.
“They asked me, ‘Where’s the safe? Give me the money.’ I kept quiet, so they pointed a stun gun at my forehead three times. I was scared. I thought for sure they were going to kill me,” one victim said.
Police are investigating whether this incident is related to the case in Noda.
