Police on Wednesday secured an arrest warrant for the man who stole four rings from the Tiffany store in Shinjuku’s Mitsukoshi Alcott department store on New Year's Eve. They also released to the public video footage of the man from Mitsukoshi's security cameras.
The man, who was described by a Tiffany employee as being an Asian of non-Japanese descent, is said to be 40-50 years old and 165-170 cm tall. In the video he is seen wearing a black jacket and black pants with sunglasses.
On Dec 31 at around 6 p.m., the man entered the store and asked an employee to show him the most expensive rings in the showcase. The woman brought out four rings, which the man put on his fingers. He told the employee he wanted to see how they felt and held them up to the light. He then pointed what looked to be a model gun at an employee who chased after him as he escaped.
Investigations revealed that the rings, originally believed to be worth 16 million yen, are worth approximately 15 million yen.
© News reports
31 Comments
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Maria
How can anyone comment on anyone's descent for sure? Surely the most the employee can say is that the guy has an accent, not who his parents and grandparents etc. are.
goddog
He looks like a tv talento, but I forget his name.
LFRAgain
Non-Japanese accents stand out to the Japanese ear as noticeably as an Aussie accent does to a Brit, no matter the fluency. It's very difficult to hide accents. Speaking to the man for even a few moments would be more than enough for the clerk to realize he wasn't a native.
TumbleDry
LFRAgain: but it easy to try to imitate someone else accent.
ahocchau
And I am sure Japanese can't fake accents, right? Please.. I do a pretty good Pakistani accent in English I might add!
animallover
Goddog I have the same impression too. Kanda Masaki isn't it? No offense KANDA Sama I am a great fun of yours by the way.
cactusJack
At the Tiffany's in Hong Kong there is a security guy by the door with a loaded shotgun who opens the door for you and gives you a nice big smile. I believe it is a pretty good deterrent against crime. Needs to be applied here.
Apsara
So, cactusjack, you would be quite happy to see security guards with shotguns all over Tokyo? I'm personally very happy I live in a country where I don't have to see that kind of thing. I would rather Tiffany got robbed occasionally than have to walk past guards with shotguns when shopping.
Altria
How romantic that this Korean guy stole some jewelry for his girlfriend...like something out of a soap opera. But he didn't get the boxes for them - women go crazy over the cute Tiffany boxes. Hope his lady doesn't get angry and run off with the other guy.
mindovermatter
How can they get an arrest warrant for someone that they haven't yet identified...? Another only in Japan moment..
This guy is long gone.... He actually looks Chinese, he was probably on the first flight out of Japan that night, he probably even had his bags with him, and a taxi waiting down the street for him.
That will never happen in Japan.. In the states and other "Civilized" countries, having the security guard is one of those requirements stipulated by the insurance company, but in Japan, since everything is basically a crime, including accidentally backing your car into a pole, I doubt these companies are even insured... It's not the Japanese way...! Ha ha ha...
And with success rate of the J-Cops, I highly highly doubt they will ever find those rings, even if they do manage to make an arrest. Their best chance for ID-ing someone would come from the finger prints, if this character was stupid enough to leave his prints behind.
swordfish2502
it's like a classic Hongkong movie in 1990s.
LoveUSA
he looks like my favourite Korean actor...
whatanidiot
a supposed foreigner steal rings, and they make the picture public only a week later ?! do you think the guy is still hiding in japan ?!?!
smithinjapan
LFRAgain: "Non-Japanese accents stand out to the Japanese ear as noticeably as an Aussie accent does to a Brit, no matter the fluency. It's very difficult to hide accents. Speaking to the man for even a few moments would be more than enough for the clerk to realize he wasn't a native."
Nah, don't agree with you on this one. All it points out is that the man is speaking with an accent, not that he's a foreigner. It'll be hard to do in text, but go on ahead and throw out any accent and I'll imitate it.
This has been bogus from the get-go.
Mittsu
At least he didin't steal all the "Tiffany Hearts" - that would have been a calamity for my J-girl constituency....
brotokyo
seems to be some missing info here. An NHK report says the culprit spoke only in English. If that is true, then back to the drawing board on this accent thread.
nath
so if he is a foreigner why not lift some prints off something? SURELY he touched something in a jewelery store..(with all the glass cabinets there's bound to be something) match it with the finger prints taken by men fitting his description from customs. I mean wasn't that the reason why we have to do the damn finger print thing? come on Japan... it's not that hard :P
Altria
Definitely not Japanese then.
Altria
Smart plan. That's how I got my Hermes suit - told the store attendant I was getting married, then sprinted out the changing room and down the road to the chapel. Never thought to get the rings that way, though.
jackseoul
I suppose this guy could be Korean, but most old Korean and Japanese men sound very similar when they are speaking English as many others could attest.
@Altria, Nice that you don't know the difference. It's even nicer you "stole" your Hermes suit. Humour us less.
oberst
How can they be sure he's non-Japanese ? A Japanese American grow up in the States speak English. So according to the J police, once you left the Motherland, you becomes Non -J ?? Good luck catching the dude.............hell, with the J-police atttude, I hope this guy get away with the crime !!
marushka
Maybe someone from Tiffany initiated this robbery? Guy is happy, he was paid for his job and insurance will pay any way, so by the end everyone is happy
stirfry
looks like the kinda guy who would have only 9 1/2 fingers
tmarie
How would a Tiffany's worker know what a Japanese English accent sound like??
Icantbelieveit
"originally believed to be worth 16 million yen, are worth approximately 15 million yen."
Well heck, that isn't so bad then....
marushka
Icantbelieveit: sure, 100k usd less is a big loss. wrong market estimation
plasticmonkey
tmarie: exactly
PepinGalarga
that's a really sharp pic. I'm impressed, usually these pics are hazy, blurry or pixelated. They should get their man soon. Like with Ichihashi, someone honest out there has dealt with this guy before.
PepinGalarga
Altria's got a point with the blue boxes. The jewelry is worthless without them. Should'da gone to diamond factory or cash4gold.com.
LostinNagoya
He may be Japanese after all. Some years ago a Japanese men learned some Spanish sentences, and would speak some of them while pointing a gun to Circle K clerks - who would describe him to police as a "foreign of Japanese descent speaking Spanish". Of course, all Spaniards and Latin Americans became suspects within minutes, only to be dismissed as innocents when he was caught and his plot unveiled. Shame!
UnagiDon
smithinjapan;
go on ahead and throw out any accent and I'll imitate it.
I would gladly pay cash money to see this, my friend. Are you selling tickets?