KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 46-year-old man for allegedly using a motorcycle to attempt to snatch the bag of a woman in Kawasaki City earlier this year, reports TBS News (May 15).
Security camera footage shot at 4:05 p.m on March 4 shows the 51-year-old female office worker walking home on a street when the motorcycle approaches her from behind. The rider then attempts to snatch the bag.
The woman was is dragged along the pavement for about eight meters as she refuses to let go of her bag. The rider then flees the scene empty-handed.
Police later accused Masataka Yamauchi, unemployed and of no fixed address, of attempted robbery. During police questioning, he admitted to the charges. He said, “I was desperate for money.”
According to the police, the motorcycle used in the crime was stolen at the end of February.
From late February to early April, a series of snatching and attempted snatching incidents involving a black scooter-type motorcycle occurred in Kawasaki City. Because the methods were similar in all of these incidents, including the victims being women during the daytime, prefectural police are investigating the possibility that Yamauchi was involved. The total amount of cash stolen in the cases is about 200,000 yen.
According to the prefectural police, Yamauchi had temporarily moved into a shared housing complex for welfare recipients, but left due to numerous restrictions. He then stated that he had been living in his car and repeatedly committing snatch-and-grab robberies while moving around the city.
On April 7, he was arrested on the spot for possession of stolen goods while attempting to ride the stolen motorcycle used in the crime.
