Police have arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of theft after he stole a wallet from a sleeping passenger on a train in Tokyo early Sunday morning.
According to police, the incident, which another passenger filmed on his smartphone, occurred just after midnight Saturday aboard a train on the Keihin Tohoku Line, Fuji TV reported. The suspect, Kuniharu Hirasawa, a company employee, approached the sleeping passenger, a 46-year-old intoxicated man lying on the seat, just as the train arrived at JR Nippori Station. He leaned over the man and lifted his wallet out of his pants pocket.
As Hirasawa got off the train, the man who filmed the theft followed and called out for help. Two men on the platform scuffled with Hirasawa before subduing him. He was handed over to station security.
Police said Hirasawa has denied the charge and quoted him as saying, “I don’t remember the incident.”
© Japan Today
22 Comments
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kaimycahl
Some post here are saying that this scenario was staged. I agree it appears to be staged because of the way it happened. Let's look at it this way there is no logic to stupidity, on both the individual who was spread out across the seats sleeping and the idiot who thought he could take the sleeping man's hard earned salary and get away with it. My only question to those who think this is staged WHY WOULD the news channels make a big story and show the thief picture on the news. Now ask yourself was that also staged? Personally I don't think so.
kurisupisu
Yeh, they would be in cuffs for several hours down at the nearest koban...
Zaphod
P. Smith
Alas, most probably yes.
Zaphod
ahh... the good old "I was drunk"? I don+t think that flies in this case.
Alex
So glad that he was caught but this a rarity , I’ve fallen asleep many a time and no one stole anything from me . I’ve left shopping in a train and got it back untouched , I’ve dropped Apple headphones and found them hanging on a bus sign. Don’t know why that commentator keeps saying the same thing . It’s definitely NOT like western countries.
Lorem ipsum
You keep repeating yourself almost every time an article like this comes out. Why?? Please stop. Like Garypen said, good things still happen and I too have gotten my lost stuff back on many occasions. This made the news because it's rather exceptional.
Paul
Stupidity of these people amazes me! He is in a train which is well lit and he does not check if anyone is behind him and does not try to block the view of what he is doing, unbelievable!!!
Hercolobus
Excellent job. Kudos to the volunteer citizen police.
garypen
No. They're still here. It has happened to friends and relatives recently, all of whom got their stuff back.
NOMINATION
Seems more like a sting than someone who just so happened to catch a man in the act.
I remember in front of the place I used to live, police would place a bicycle in the middle of the sidewalk and an undercover cop dressing up like an old guy practicing his golf swing 10 meters away. Someone steals then he runs after them and cop car parked around the corner pursues too.
umbrella
Don't fall asleep on the train. You become an open target.
oldman_13
Those days of Japan being considered so safe that wallets and purses accidentally left on trains would be safely returned to their owners, are long gone.
Things have gotten worse overall.
Jonathan Prin
It is called pickpocketing (suri).
And 100% sure he was under surveillance : why would a normal person film him just before and how unknown people on the platform would catch him not even 2 seconds after he steps out ?
Good he was caught.
foreignbrotherhoodarmy
The typical standard Japanese excuse , I was drunk and don’t remember. Cowardly
Cricky
Watching the video might jog him memory?