crime

Cigarette vending machine thief's getaway foiled by snow

19 Comments

A man who stole a cigarette vending machine in Chino, Nagano Prefecture, didn't get very far after his getaway truck skidded off the road due to heavy snow, sending the vending machine onto the pavement.

According to police, the suspect, identified as Kesami Ikegami, 34, stole the vending machine at about 4:50 a.m. last Thursday, NTV reported. The vending machine had about 10,000 yen in cash and 100 packs of cigarettes in it.

Police said that Ikegami unfastened the bolts that secured the vending machine to the ground. He then parked his light truck beside the machine and pushed it onto the back, NTV reported.

As he was driving away, the truck skidded off the road and got stuck in the snow and the vending machine fell off. A local resident noticed the accident and called police. When police arrived, Ikegami was still in the truck, trying to get it out of the snow, they said.

Ikegami was quoted as saying that he was desperate for cigarettes and money, NTV reported.

A similar incident occurred early on Jan 29 in Fujimicho and police are questioning Ikegami about that theft as well.

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19 Comments
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Talk about an idiot of all idiots! Hahahahahhaha. He actually thought that he would get away with what he was doing!!! If he is that desperate for cigarettes, I think its time for him to stop smoking.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

PROOF! Cigarettes lead to crime! Time to ban smoking in order to combat crime!

14 ( +15 / -2 )

He should have done it in Chino, California - no snow there.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

10,000 what? Yen?

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Yen

@Yubaru - a lot of media sites, whatever country they are based in, often speak in US$, so as not to confuse their American readers. I hope that JT is not doing that. 10,000 yen strikes me as a very small amount of money to have in a cigarette machine, too.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!! i hope someone has a video of this.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

A haul of 30,000 yens worth of fags ? The dick head should have at least stood the machine upright against the wall or fence and claimed it wasn't his or covered it in snow .....blah blah...... The ciggy machines are not that heavy .

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The ciggy machines are not that heavy.

I'd like to see you move 190kg by yourself.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I suspect that the machine itself is worth far more than the contents and this smoking fool will be paying for it one way or another!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I knew snow was good for something. 

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Being a smoker obviously requires a lack of common sense if not idiocy.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

10,000 yen is not a large nor small amount, it's change for the vending machine.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Yubaru - a lot of media sites, whatever country they are based in, often speak in US$, so as not to confuse their American readers

Assuming what you are saying here is so, then what's not to confuse the Chinese reader's here? They do out number American's by roughly 700,000,000 or so?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

if he loaded 190kg himself he should have a job or a start with sumo

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The dimwit should have said something like he was desparate for a smoke, left his money at home, and as there was snow everywhere decided to take the entire machine with him ... adding that he was going to pay the owners when he got his money. Anyway, if the cops are smart, he'll be bumming cigarettes from colleagues while behind bars for quite a while ...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If he was desperate for money why didn't he sell his truck?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Hence "smoking is injurious to your health" and now even to your image.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"he was desperate for cigarettes"

Nicotine is a powerful addictive drug.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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