OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a 35-year-old unemployed man who turned himself in for a string of armed robberies at convenience stores nearly a decade ago, claiming he could no longer live with the guilt, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sep. 3).
Daisuke Iwata, a resident of Higashiosaka City, has admitted to the allegations, telling investigators he surrendered because he was “driven by remorse,” police announced on Thursday.
According to police, Iwata is accused of storming into three convenience stores in Hirakata City with a knife during the early hours of July 24, 2017. He allegedly threatened store clerks, barking, “Hand over the money,” before making off with a total of approximately 200,000 yen in cash from the registers. No one was injured during the robbery spree.
The cold case saw an unexpected breakthrough in late August of this year when Iwata personally telephoned a local police station, hinting at his involvement in the crimes before formally turning himself in. Under Japanese law, the statute of limitations for robbery is 10 years.
Authorities believe Iwata is also highly likely to be the culprit behind a similar convenience store robbery that took place in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City, in August 2017. Prior to his confession, Osaka and Kyoto police had jointly released security camera footage to the public in a desperate bid for information on the serial robber.
