Man slashes two men with cutter knife after attempting to steal 91-year-old woman's bag in Tokyo

What a lowlife, picking on an elderly woman. My grandmother was once knocked over by a punk looking for her purse. She was 80 and never really recovered from the shock. This guy in Tokyo seems even more desperate, willing to use a knife to avoid being caught. I wonder other crimes he is guilty of.

Well, on the positive side, this time bystanders actually did something.

well done to the guys.

Good on the guys who jumped in.

The Japanese are no more or no less to jump in than any other people -spectator complex - and I really wonder whether I would jump in if the same situation was to happen around me.

Well done lads.....

well done to the guys.

Why? They didn't catch him and they gave up after receiving a 'minor' injury. A typically Japanese token attempt at heroism. Receiving an injury would have only served to spur me on. However, being a foreigner I would have been in more serious trouble than the offender.

Is there any kind of civic honours system in this country? If there is then surely these guys would come highly recommended. Well done chaps!

Moeditors,

who tried to arrest him after witnessing

I believe it's only the police who arrest people. Perhaps the gardner and security guard were only trying to catch or hold him. Good attempt, guys. (I mean the gardner & guard.)

It's really no wonder why so many Japanese are scared stiff to do anything when they witness a crime -- or even doing something as minor as smoking in a no-smoking section; they face the threat of being punched, cut up, slashed, etc. I hope this won't deter others from doing the same thing (ie. coming to the defense of someone who needs it), and I hope this weak and moronic criminal is punished to the full extent of the law. Low-life scum.

borscht: Catching and holding somebody is 'arresting' them, regardless of who does it. I suggest you check a dictionary.

Not sure if Japan has it, but in my country you can make a "Citizens Arrest".

Works well too.

A gardner should never be without his impliments!! Japanese are SCARED STIFF of REVENGE and being dragged into a life-long court case!!! No offense Smith,I can understand why you'd say that. If ya said the COPS are scared stiff of help'n people I'd AGREE

Smithinjapan, would you have helped that young fella on the bus outside Winnipeg? I hope you are good enough to practice what you preach or those are empty words.

borscht

The proper term is Citizen arrest.

and what are "Moeditors" ;)

well at least bystanders tried to do something

All knives are "cutter knives", except maybe pate knives and putty knives. Do they mean "razor knife"?

Toshihiko Takeuchi, who is unemployed, allegedly slashed a security guard, 51, and a gardener, 56, who tried to arrest him

Unbelievable...This is the same lack of common sense which permeates japan... "Oh, Let's go arrest this guy..." This is exactly what happened to that convenience store clerk about a year ago, he ran after a guy steeling a 6-pack of beer and payed for it with his life...

They're lucky they weren't killed...

Takeuchi hid in an academic research building 1 km from the crime scene where he was found and arrested by police.

I also highly doubt this ever happened, he probably turned himself in when he saw the cops...

Don't mean to be pedantic here (well, yes I do... ;-)

arrest has 2 meanings

to seize OR take into custody by legal authority or warrant

to catch and hold; attract and fix; engage

The second definition is usually used in the sense of arresting one's attention, etc. (thanks dictionary.com). This article clearly is talking about a Citizen's Arrest, which others have alluded to (do they have in Japan??), and which should be clarified, as "arrest" alone is not correct. If you were to grab hold of someone, ex. a small child, they would probably say "Let me go" but would never have the fear of being "arrested" by you.

A cutter knife is a box cutter, with a plastic handle/case and a blade that slides out.

good on the two dudes though.. Top stuff..

couple of questions, the guy got away from a sercurity guard (who at least should know how to slam some dude) and a gardener. I'm thinking the gardener could have tripped him with his rake, and the security gaurd could have wailed on him with his billy club till the cops came.

second question, is when the purse snatcher guy was running, was he thinking "Oh look, an academic reserach center, they'll never find me in there.." and then when the cops were looking for him, and they saw the big academic research center sign, did they think "bingo!"

and where exactly was the guy hiding, under a pile of academic research papers?

i am so confused why in every article people pick at little parts of it and find any kind of fault possible in the story or strongly state they are a foreigner and then say what the Japanese do wrong. Do people take out the alienation they experience in Japan on this site through comments or something? I'm not trying to be rude I am just...so many complaints about Japan/Japanese on all these things.

Where is everyone who constantly says Japanese never step in to help people in trouble? Good on the gardener and security guard for trying to arrest this a#$hole. Too bad the gardener didn't have some pruning shears or something that might have had a longer reach than the perp's box cutter.

Any way you cut it, these two did the right thing, even though their attempt to subdue this $#!+bird failed. Wish there were more people like them in the world

Considering the article is most likely a translated one, it could of meant attempt to "detain" a person until police arrive. Or it could of possibly meant "citizens arrest". For example, I know train station staff sometime detain/hold someone (eg a fare evader or whatever) until the police arrive. Technically not arrest. For example, back in the states, depending on various local laws and state policies, security guards can detain someone until the police arrive to "arrest" them.

Forgetting all the terminology above, good work for the two guys stepping in to help the lady, and I hope the punk who picks on old ladies gets the book thrown at him.

Any way you cut it, these two did the right thing, even though their attempt to subdue this $#!+bird failed. Wish there were more people like them in the world

It's not that the, "act" of trying to catch this guy was wrong, it's just that these two over 50 y/o oyaji's weren't the least bit cut out for that type of work. In tokyo, 50 y/o oyaji's routinely get the crap knocked out of them by 20 year old punks...(this isn't korea, where everyone's a black belt by HS)

It's one thing for these two to step in if this old lady is getting hurt or her life is in danger, but it's quite another to run after some crazy guy, especially after all the incidents you hear about these days of people getting stabbed while chasing someone...

I just want to know where those good Samaritans were on that crowded JR Tokaido line train a couple years ago when that 20 something y/o girl was taken in front of a car load of oyaji's into the toilet and raped....

It would have been nice if the gardner cracked the culprit aside the head with a rake or other implement while the guard whaked him with his traffic wand.

A cutter knife is a box cutter, with a plastic handle/case and a blade that slides out.

Yes. But you'll agree that "cutter knife" is a nonsense expression, I hope, Apsara.