crime

Man arrested for breaking into ex-girlfriend’s apartment to steal her Nintendo Switch

16 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

While some couples are able to stay friends once their relationship runs its course, more often than not the best course of action for both parties is to make as clean a break as possible. After you’ve said your goodbyes, it’s important to give your ex the space they need to move on, which usually means not texting just to say hi, telling them how much you miss them, or breaking into their apartment.

That last one proved to be a problem for one 34-year-old resident of the city of Chitose, Hokkaido Prefecture, who has been arrested on charges of sneaking into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, who lives in Sapporo, and stealing her Nintendo Switch.

However, his motivation wasn’t a desire to deny his ex the simple joy of playing "Smash Bros" with her newly expanded amount of free time since they broke up. The man, who has admitted to the charges, says he stole the woman’s game console because she owes him money. He loaned her a certain sum of cash while they were still dating, which he claims she’s yet to repay. “She still hasn’t paid back the money, so I stole the Switch to cover part of it,” he told the police, apparently with the intent to sell it on the used market.

Even if the grievance is true, though, it’s not winning the man much support from Twitter commenters in Japan, who’ve reacted with:

“You can practically hear the police officers who arrested him sighing at how asinine his story is.”

“When you make a personal loan to someone, you should be mentally prepared for them to never pay you back. I learned that in elementary school.”

“This guy seems pretty whiny for 34 years old.”

“If his ex is in her 30s too, they both sound pretty sketchy.”

The man was arrested on Sept 25, but the break-in and Switch theft actually occurred all the way back in June. The wheels of justice sometimes turn surprisingly slowly in Japan, and the ostensible thoroughness of investigations may be a factor in the country’s extremely high rate of criminal convictions and confessions. In this case, though, it definitely seems like detectives could have cracked the case sooner, considering that the man was also arrested for breaking into the woman’s home in May, at which time he stole her wallet and apartment key. Since she didn’t change her locks after that incident, investigators are working off the belief that the man made a copy of the key, which he then used to regain entrance to her apartment when he stole the Switch.

Source: Hokkaido Broadcasting Company via Yahoo! Japan News via Jin, Twitter 

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Japanese man arrested for stealing women’s shoes and replacing them with new ones

-- Wakayama man stealing uniform from school caught by mysterious man in restroom in middle of night

-- Captured Tokyo panty thief denies having any interest in bras

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

16 Comments
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The man was arrested on Sept 25, but the break-in and Switch theft actually occurred all the way back in June. The wheels of justice sometimes turn surprisingly slowly in Japan

Understatement of the century. Japan wouldn't know how to pick up the pace on anything even if the fate of the country depends on it.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Not the right thing to do at all in any relationship, but I think many can understand the feeling.

Very bad decision on his part!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Lessons learnt: never expect money you loan to friends or girlfriends to be returned.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Well, the infallible 'breaking and entering' will be off the list of things they can charge him with, as he had a key and nothing was broken.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I think the real motivation of his relationship with her just became all too clear.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Date, hate and Switch.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

GIVE the money, ..or don’t, - Lending money can be a precursor to the “red ring of Death” in any non-committed relationship.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The ‘real’ story is now she’s run away with his Xbox.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There may still be hope for these star-crossed lovers! Even marriage to soon-to-be ‘former royalty’ can come true, despite false starts due to alleged ‘bad debt’;

- “He loaned her a certain sum of cash while they were still dating, which he claims she’s yet to repay.” -

Déjà vu? -

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This case also seems reminiscent of a former famous person who also went to visit his ex, late at night, ‘to reclaim what he always considered his’. - Not to worry: he beat the ‘breaking & entering’ rap (amongst other more serious charges) because the state’s incriminating evidence apparently no longer ‘fit’ in front of the mesmerized jury. He later tried more of ‘a team-effort’ with his confrontational tactics to recover what ‘he claimed was still his personal property’ in a nearby state. Fortuitously, a more ‘reasonable’ jury convicted him and he was justifiably sentenced to prison.  He’s out again now but has yet to capture, as promised, the ‘real’ culprit of the first crimes.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Got it “nothing broken” but even with a key @nandakandamanda 12:54pm it’s still an unlawful entry. The writer sets up the B&E dialogue with refs to “Smash Bros” and “break in”. The JPD always uses “violation of the nuisance law” as a fallback.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Loaned her money?

Did she not have a job? Or he couldn’t give it to her as a present?

Sounds like both of them could use some swift slaps to the face.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Actually, he was her PlayStation for a short time but not anymore.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

A property settlement Japan style.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Guess he also switched from living in a home to a jail cell.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

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