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At around midnight on April 23, a 66-year-old man was walking through the skyscraper-lined streets of Yodogawa Ward in Osaka city. Although even at this hour late-working businessmen can usually be seen bustling about and grabbing drinks, it was during the state of emergency in Japan and the streets were virtually deserted at the time.
The man passed by a yakiniku restaurant that had closed down due to the pandemic. After looking around, he skillfully broke open a window and climbed inside. Then, taking out his flashlight, the man spotted a safe, grabbed it, and was on his way home after only three minutes.
After the owner found the safe with 20,000 yen inside missing, they contacted the police who launched an investigation. It seemed that, while the man was skilled in breaking and entering, he failed to expect a security camera in the restaurant’s kitchen.
Because the intruder was wearing only a baseball cap, with no mask or sunglasses, one of the detectives immediately recognized his face. It belonged to a career criminal who was arrested a few years back during a memorable heist in which he started cooking in the very restaurant he was robbing.
Since he was well known among law enforcement, it didn’t take long for them to locate him and make an arrest on May 14. In the ensuing interrogation, the man confessed, “I thought I might get caught by my face showing up on a security camera, but I couldn’t get a mask anywhere because of the coronavirus.”
In total, the man was facing 24 charges of robbery stemming back to September of 2017, for a total of 1.73 million yen in damages. However, the suspect also confessed that the effects of the coronavirus were digging into his bottom line. In the four burglaries he committed during April, he only obtained 37,000 yen.
“It’s awful because the sales at restaurants are too low,” he told police, “probably because of the coronavirus.” He then added, “Who would have thought the coronavirus is an inconvenience, even when it came to stealing?”
It’s unclear why the burglar didn’t simply put on another kind of face covering like a handkerchief or scarf during his brief theft.
Moreover, this burglar’s story is indicative of the often overlooked impact of COVID-19 has been having on crime in Japan. According to the National Police Agency, crime for the first half of 2020 dropped by 15.4 percent from the same period of the previous year. It would seem less people going out has been creating less opportunities to steal, but business owners are still being warned not to leave valuables in closed-down shops which have become prime targets.
Source: Sankei News
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2020/08/18/osaka-burglar-arrested-because-he-couldnt-find-a-mask-during-shortage/
17 Comments
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Zaphod
Not much of a "safe" if you can just grab it and run away, is it.
sd
I had a headache until I understood this long sentence.
shogun36
Whoa! 1+1=2! What a conclusion!!!
Not me. I thought a pandemic would only spike sales and make all businesses profitable. Mind baffling, isn't it?
he still roams free to do whatever he wants (until he got caught, again).............good job, "law enforcement."
Chico3
This should be on The World's Dumbest Criminals. If I were his dad, I would give him one good kick in the "you know where," and send him off to prison, where the prisoners can do the same. Pretty sad. Even my daughters are way smarter than this joker.
Goodlucktoyou
in some countries, you advising criminals, rapists and murderers to wear masks to facilitate their success could land you in deep trouble matey.
kohakuebisu
It's a sad day when crime doesn't pay.
u_s__reamer
With his record he'll be teaching the class.
Yes, he'd be the best candidate for the position. The Japanese even have a special word for this sort of teacher: 反面教師/はんめんきょうし - a teacher whose bad example one can learn from.
Peeping_Tom
A " memorable heist in which he started cooking in the very restaurant he was robbing".
Wow!
A very dangerous country indeed.
SPRING
“It’s awful because the sales at restaurants are too low,” he told police, “probably because of the coronavirus.” He then added, “Who would have thought the coronavirus is an inconvenience, even when it came to stealing?”
I seriously can’t stop laughing.
Harry_Gatto
With his record he'll be teaching the class.
u_s__reamer
In prison he'll be able to attend Burglary 101 and come out with new skills and all the wiser.
that person
This is funny
Toshihiro
Thank goodness for the mask shortage if that's the case then. Comedy-crime news articles like this really does make my day, keep it up JT! Not to condone the Lupin-wannabe but he could've worn a hoodie and bandana over his face or just disguise himself as a utility worker. But thank goodness he was arrested, I'm surprised a man of his age is still nimble enough for stuff like this.