Police in Fussa, Tokyo, have arrested a 35-year-old police officer on suspicion of stealing 4.1 million yen from the home of a woman in her 70s, while he was supposedly investigating an incident.
According to police, Ryota Toshima, a patrol officer in the Ogikubo police department traffic division, came to the woman’s house at around 3:30 p.m. on June 8, Sankei Shimbun reported. He was in uniform and showed the woman his badge and police handbook. He told her he was investigating reports of a window being shattered.
The woman, who lives alone, said Toshima asked to be let in so he could look around. Once inside, he inspected the house and stole the money from the woman’s safe, which wasn’t locked, and 100,000 yen from her handbag.
After Toshima left, the woman noticed her money was missing and contacted police. She said that a man posing as a police officer had stolen her money. However, street surveillance camera footage showed Toshima outside her house.
Police said Toshima, who was arrested on Saturday, has admitted to the charge and quoted him as saying he needed money to pay back debts.
© Japan Today
21 Comments
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snowymountainhell
Way to go, ‘Robin Hoodlum’. -“Stealing from poor to give to the Rich.”
Mark
NOT SHOCKED at all, these days anything could happen, corruption starts at the TOP and trickles down.
shogun36
So what happened to this low life?
Did he get thrown in jail? Or just a stern lecture?
serendipitous1
A man posing as a police officer who actually was a police officer!
Jonathan Prin
Safe unlocked. Lol.
Was money recovered for the "poor" lady ?
asdfgtr
@Jonathan,
Sounds like u and Ryota are cut from the same cloth.
quercetum
She’s not really poor though.
Fighto!
Lock the rubbish away for a few years and let the other inmates know he was an ex cop. See how he goes.
Some dude
I always had the impression that while Japan’s politicians are just as corrupt as any other country’s, the civil servants are generally on the level.
Evidently there are some bad eggs in that lot too.
indigo
just the tip of the iceberg! you need police to check police
sir_bentley28
I'll say it again!
When the cops become the criminals, you know its a serious problem!
Now I've read too many cases like this to know never let an officer in my house!
602miko
Those money does he return back to obaachan?
kurisupisu
Did Toshima get promoted to traffic cop?
Abbey
The great Japanese police ..at it again . Don't we respect them so much.
thaonephil
Bad cop, but luckily also dumb, I bet he never even noticed the street camera.
ian
How could he have accumulated those debts and what could/would have happened to him if not paid
kaimycahl
*Police said Toshima, who was arrested on Saturday, has admitted to the charge and quoted him as saying he needed money to pay back debts. *So does that mean the cop has to go steal from an old lady whom he thought would not notice. I hope he gets locked up.
Mocheake
So, did he actually know the woman had a bit of money on hand or did he just happen to guess correctly that she had a handbag and an unlocked safe full of cash and on the premises?
Charlie Sommers
Older people need to develop more trust in banks, keeping large sums of cash in your home is not a good idea. If you insist on keeping cash on hand keep it in a "locked" safe that is not easy to move.
RINFO
pudus
targeting the elderly, and defenseless AGAIN.