crime

Man wielding an umbrella attempts to rob Urawa ward office

26 Comments

Police in Urawa Ward, Saitama City, said Monday they have arrested a man who, wielding an umbrella, forced his way into a government office and demanded money.

According to police, Kazuhiro Kawabata, 43, who is unemployed and has no fixed address, entered the ward office at around 5:40 a.m. Sunday and brandished an umbrella at a 63-year-old man working the night shift, TBS reported. Kawabata demanded money and hit the ward employee with the umbrella, inflicting minor injuries, police said.

A security guard detained Kawabata until police arrived. Kawabata was quoted as saying he needed money.

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26 Comments
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The Penguin?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Knox Harrington, Jeff Huffman, Sillygirl, don't knock it till you've tried it. Better a silly sod with an umbrella than a gang banger with a pistol. Saitama's not so bad.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Poor guy was probably extremely desperate.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

jerseyboy Apr. 15, 2014 - 07:36AM JST Similar thing happened to me years back in the shops right above Roppongi station. Some guy tried to steal a gal's purse, and he thought his umbrella -- one of the cheap combini-store ones -- was going to impress me.

How exactly did this "happen to you"? Were you the girl he tried to impress?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

At least now he has a place to stay. I hope he goes to a mental facility where he can get treatment.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Urawa just keeps the hits coming this year, don't they. Also, Saitama seems like a great place to live.

Um, go look at the stats, Saitama is not even in the Top 5 for crime rate. Didn't know reported crime in Japan Today means an entire Prefecture is a war zone.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

"I've got an umbrella, and a need of money. I can either try to win people's hearts with an astonishing rendition of Singin' in the Rain, or I can whack some poor guy with it and get arrested." Should have tried singing. But really though, an umbrella? Well, I hope he didn't open it indoors. That's supposed to be bad luck.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"Gimme the money or I open the umbrella indoors... and you know what that means!"

If he hadn't whacked the poor old chap in the shop with the brolly I would have thought this was a joke. I suppose an umbrella handle can be just as bad as any other blunt instrument wielded by a nutter.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Wielding an umbrella?

Really? Wielding????

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I actually feel sorry for homeless guy. There are a lot of desperate folks in plain sight, but few or no charitable places.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Maybe they want to sleep under roof and eat food in a jail cell?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You've got to be kidding me. Did the thing have an exploding tip or something?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

He was practicing for the next Batman movie role as the Penguin..

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Hold on. A ward office with a night shift? A ward office employee on the job at 05:40? The Umbrella Man is from Opposite World.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Oh my gawds, he has an umbrella!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You've got to be kidding me.

Fraid not. Similar thing happened to me years back in the shops right above Roppongi station. Some guy tried to steal a gal's purse, and he thought his umbrella -- one of the cheap combini-store ones -- was going to impress me.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Isn't that cute! He probably believed he would actually get some money too.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

seriously how dangerous can an umbrella be. a few chairs, tape dispensers, even tables thrown at the guys head will make him think twice

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"Mary Poppins" springs to mind... although I'm in the same (financial) situation, I shall try to refrain from doing the same thing...

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Ban umbrellas!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Lethal Kasa cases on the rise!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Another nutter on the lose!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

A lot of these old fellows who do this kind of thing know they're going to get caught and in fact just want a place to stay -- the klink meets the criteria. They get a bed, three squares a day, and don't have to do very much.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

It's not called Dasasitama for nuttin'.

This is beyond comical.

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

That's why they call it dasaitama.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

Urawa just keeps the hits coming this year, don't they. Also, Saitama seems like a great place to live.

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

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