crime

3 arrested for stealing customer’s bag in Ginza restaurant

22 Comments

Police have arrested three Romanian men on charges of theft, after they were caught stealing a bag carrying cash from a customer at a restaurant in Ginza last Friday.

According to police, the three men spotted the bag, which was left on the floor next to the customer dining at the restaurant at around 10 p.m. on July 14. One of the men began talking to the restaurant staff to distract their attention, while the other two snatched the bag, Sankei Shimbun reported.

There was approximately ¥50,000 in the bag, police said.

One of the arrested men told police they “wanted the bag” and that’s why they stole it.

The three were arrested on the spot after a policeman on patrol witnessed the crime.

According to police, there have been seven cases of similar crimes in Tokyo since June, the total loss of which stands at ¥440,000.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

22 Comments
Login to comment

The Romanian (also Albanian, Kosovo) Balkan mafia is a headache for European police forces because they are notorious criminals. I wonder whether they will also start to break into residences.

What I did not know is that they made their business appearance into Japan as well.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

sting? good idea if you ask me. Clean up the vermin.

Nice job J cops... for a change

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Pretty soon even in Japan we will no longer be able to leave things unattended, it's quite a shame. The large flocks of girls who go to the restroom together leaving their LV bags behind at izakaya are gonna have a hard time...Also no more staking out a spot with your things at a cafe and then getting in line.

0 ( +7 / -7 )

Deport these animals.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

Pretty soon even in Japan we will no longer be able to leave things unattended, it's quite a shame. The large flocks of girls who go to the restroom together leaving their LV bags behind at izakaya are gonna have a hard time...Also no more staking out a spot with your things at a cafe and then getting in line.

It's madness leaving bags unattended, not for possible theft reasons, but really in these times terrorism is the main concern. Come the Olympics and the police will be called every ten seconds as worried visitors spot yet another unattended bag.

As for getting a seat in a cafe before you've been served - I hate that selfish behaviour.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

One of the arrested men told police they “wanted the bag” and that’s why they stole it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't "I wanted it" the absolute majority of theft motivations?

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Laguna, surely they wanted the money, ...unless the guy had a bag fetish, or they had some way to sell it, or their wives/girlfriends are still around somewhere.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

If it's a Vuiton bag, sure they want it more that what's inside !

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The article says the bag was left on the floor, next to the customer. I don't see anything specifying that it was unattended.

As for: "As for getting a seat in a cafe before you've been served - I hate that selfish behaviour."

The system of placing an article on a table to reserve it seems fine to me. If people do so as they enter an establishment, it seems they would be seated in the same order they arrived and were served...

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Sounds like typical Romanian "gyspies", not "Romanians".

It's just their "job".

They are the scourge of all major European cities.

They go as gangs for the Summer tourist season to rob and pickpocket, generally with the women and children begging, and often sleeping rough dumping their waste where they lie. They then live off their earnings for the winter back home.

Many are indebted to gang masters who pay their flights and cost and force them to earn so much a day.

Generally they play the language card of not speaking, or pretending not to speak the local language which, in Japan's case, if most likely anyway. That way they flood police resources for translators.

Japanese society lacks the "anti-bodies" to fight them. They will destroy the general environment of trust and safety.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

You are free to leave whatever possessions you want unattended. Leave your car running with the keys in the ignition. Leave your front door unlocked and open when you leave for work. Leave your cash-filled wallet on any table at any restaurant of your choosing. Just don't complain when you return and it is gone. Your belief that in Japan, all Japanese are these good hearted, kind, honest, trustworthy people is ridiculous. No country, ethnicity, culture, race, etc holds a 100% rate of being as perfect as you believe Japanese people to be.

As for the culture of Japan - I think it's been ruined to the point of not even having a culture anymore. Kawaii is not culture. Loud, shrieking voices and extending words by an extra 5-10 seconds to absurdly over-emphasize is not culture. 'Cool Japan' whereby you have an uncool person/place/thing proclaiming it is cool because they say they are cool - it doesn't make it cool.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

I hope these "thieving creeps" are sent back to where they came from!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

You are free to leave whatever possessions you want unattended.

Thats true but in this case is was not unattended (at least it does not say it was unattended that in the article)

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Deport them immediately. These Eastern Europeans are an iffy bunch TBH and would be interested to know what they were doing here in the first place

2 ( +2 / -0 )

If the bag wasn't unattended, how did it get taken in the first place? On the floor is unattended. If you put it somewhere you can't see it, it's unattended.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

On the floor is unattended.

I keep my bag on the floor at my feet all the time, and it is most definitely not unattended.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

According to police, the three men spotted the bag, which was left on the floor next to the customer dining at the restaurant

So this incident took place while they were IN the restaurant. The key word is IN

The three were arrested on the spot after a policeman on patrol witnessed the crime.

So the one police officer was on patrol INSIDE the restaurant? I think this needs some clarification.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Andy - your whole 2nd paragraph, aside from being beside the point, shows that you've been in Japan waaaay too long. Don't like it, leave! Simple, right?

And in the first paragraph - "No country, ethnicity, culture, race, etc holds a 100% rate of being as perfect as you believe Japanese people to be." - The guys who took the bag were Romanian.

Leaving your bag to stake out a place at a cafe is fine. Just don't leave it there and disappear for an hour.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Perhaps they were an advance scouting party sussing out the scene before the Olympics.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

LudditeJuly 19 05:44 pm JSTAs for getting a seat in a cafe before you've been served - I hate that selfish behaviour.

I also find this annoying, but many cafes request that you do this so it's not necessarily people being selfish.

I find it ties up each table for several more minutes than necessary and probably costs a couple of sales per day but I guess the theory is to avoid people grooving about with trays trying to find a place to sit down.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yeah, it could be a sting. The thieves seemed to have a routine rehearsed and may well have been known. Bad for the reputation of gaijin so I too hope they are deported.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites