Man holds 4-yr-old boy hostage; sends mother into bank to get money

Nice work by the bank employees and police! This could have turned out much worse.

Very nice work....Mother was smart and so was the bank employee...well played. How stupid was the man BTW?

here is the whole detailed story (video):

http://rkb.jp/news/news/8760/

This kind of crime happens all the time in Latin America, so I am surprised to hear about here in Japan, good on the intelligent mother and the bank teller and the Fukuoka police department! I hope this idiot scum bag criminal rots in jail for the rest of his worthless life!

this has to be a 1st here... except for the no job and address bit.

do you really think the mother and the bank teller seem "smart" seems like basic protocol for anyone of average intelligence.

and that's why this always happens in "latin american"

unemployed and of no fixed abode, police said.

Why is it at times like this I get the feeling that JT is using as machine translator? "No fixed abode", who actually uses that word in that context? Typically speaking, and more common for sure, would be "No fixed address".

Thanks for the AM chuckle, from an otherwise dreary article.

Why the note? Since the bad guy was outside, couldn't the mother just say "A kidnapper has my son. See him out there?" Or was the note signed and therefore 'real' and could be taken seriously?

Congratulations on everyone for doing a good job and I'm very happy the bad guy didn't panic and stab the kid to death when he saw the cops running up to him.

This was quick thinking of the mother and good judgement by the bank teller that led to the arrest of this bastard.

The mother chose to gamble her son's life rather than withdraw money?!

The downside to this is the 4-year old boy has been traumatized and no doubt his being held hostage at knife point will have a lasting psychological effect on him.

The downside to this is the 4-year old boy has been traumatized and no doubt his being held hostage at knife point will have a lasting psychological effect on him.

4 year old children bounce back very quickly, faster than adults, and if the child is given proper attention and care this incident should have no more lasting memory than a scratch on the knee. It will fade with time, IF given proper care.

this has to be a 1st here... except for the no job and address bit.

It's not a 1st, just not very common, and the no job and no abode, well there are plenty of people like that.

Woooo! This is frightening! As much as I hate to say it, I dare say we will see a few copy-cat crimes of this nature in the following weeks cos summer is nut season in Japan. Glad the caught the loon and the boy was not harmed

borschtAug. 09, 2012 - 09:54AM JST Why the note?

Giving a handwritten note to the teller instead of using spoken communication accomplished two critical purposes. First, it allowed the teller to stay at "her" window instead of leaving to speak to a supervisor - because she could just pass the note. This gained extra time for the authorities to respond. The longer the mother was "busy" in the bank the better the chances were of the child being rescued. Second, the use of a written note reduced any risk for verbal miscommunications or panic among bank employees or doubt about the facts of the situation. With a written note in hand the bank supervisor had a much easier task when speaking to the police by phone. This level headed thinking to write a note for the teller was a very intelligient move. Mom, it seems, is one very smart lady.

If there ever was a definition of scummy and cowardly then this is it.

Glad the story ended well, and that the J-police did not screw it up for once.

Sounds like something out of Meitantei Conan.

Not a very intelligent robber, but credit where it's due to the mother and bank worker. And a seemingly rare job well done by the J police.

suspect not clever ..... i think his just desperate and losing hope?

Wonder if people would say how intelligent the mother was if the perp had stabbed the kid to death upon seeing the coppers roll up? Glad the situation turned out the way it did though. Scary Japan.

MeanRingo:

" Wonder if people would say how intelligent the mother was if the perp had stabbed the kid to death upon seeing the coppers roll up? "

Well, I assumed the coppers did not arrive with flashing red lights and sirens blaring, announcing themselves minutes ahead? But maybe I am giving them too much credit...

I don't think the guy planned on killing the kid. He would have killed him the moment the police came but he didn't. Desperation got to him.