crime

Would-be store robber gets yelled at by employee; calls police himself

43 Comments

A would-be convenience store robber called police and turned himself in after being reprimanded by an employee in Fukushima on Tuesday morning. According to police, Takashi Owata entered a Sunkus convenience store and demanded cash from a 59-year-old female employee. The woman told police she glared at the man and yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

According to police, Owata threatened the woman with a wooden stick, but left the store without any money after she yelled at him. He then called police from his mobile phone and confessed to trying to rob the store. The nearest police station was a mere 400 meters from the convenience store, and Owata turned himself in. The wooden stick was found in a flower bed in front of the store. At the time of the incident, there were three customers in the store in addition to the manager and one employee.

On Sept 25, police held a seminar teaching convenience store employees how to deal with robberies. One official said, "The woman's calm demeanor during the incident was likely highly effective."

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43 Comments
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Hahahah, he probably knew the cops wouldnt do anything, and looks like he wanted some attention, so he had to call the cops himself if he wanted to get caught

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This made my day. The funniest thing I have ever heard!!

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Some of these older women can be pretty scary. One would imagine that she has a voice that could curdle milk. The robber was probably lucky to get away with his life.

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Takashi Owata entered a Sunkus convenience store and demanded cash from a 59-year-old female employee. The woman told police she glared at the man and yelled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

LOL. Obasan's power!..

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Probably sounded too much like his wife/mother.

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good stuff!

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Thank god for her he was such a whimp. And good on her for not being intimidated.

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The woman told police she glared at the man and yelled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Unless she yelled it in English, that's a bad translation.

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Brave lady! I'm always amused when the guy confesses after a failed robbery. Like that poor kid who did it some weeks ago. I'm glad no one was hurt.

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I nearly choked on my coffee reading this!!!! Nothing surprises me anymore in this country.

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weak..

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This was never gonna be a robbery. Just some twisted kid wanting some attention.

I can't believe the cops are praising this woman for her actions. The woman that scolded him is an idiot and has just set a completely wrong standard for how to react in a robbery situation.

The SOP we taught to pub employees is, NEVER antagonize an armed bandit because you may just end up dead over a couple of hundred bucks. Just give them what they want and let them leave. - That's in the real world where thieves want money and not just attention, of course.
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Darwin award candidate.

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I wish the whole world was full of people like these. It would be so easy to live.

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He then called police from his mobile phone and confessed to trying to rob the store.

Stupidity, it seems, is deeply instilled in some folk.

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He then called police from his mobile phone and confessed to trying to rob the store

A deliberate effort 2 get incarcerated of cos

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Good on her for standing up for herself, but Im pretty sure 9 times out of ten the same actions would have left her in hospital or worse.

Not sure the police should be saying that she acted in the right way here. You shout a pathetic guy with a stick - he drops it. You shout at someone that really does actually want to rob you with a stick - you get hurt.

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Threatened her with a wooden stick? Handed himself in after being yelled at? Sounds like an imbecile (surprise!). Owata indeed.

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Maybe the fact that she could see what kind of guy he was is why she confronted him? If your eyes are open, you can tell people who are crazy, who are seriously dangerous, and who aren't sure of themselves a mile away. That said, even so, depending on how together she is, one is, she could possibly confront a hard gangster a similar way and win. And yet a hundred others could imitate her and wind up in the hospital. People aren't predictable chemical reactions. And all situations are fluid.

Silly sounding wooden stick= probably a wooden sword from Japanese fencing. Well made, they hurt a lot, and can break bones and kill no problem. Ina a country w/o guns, it's a serious weapon.

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a wooden stick? try a .45 caliber pistol next time...

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She must have been using the 'mother telling son off' technique. Men can be so weak at times.

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A ticket to free food in the cooler if convicted

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What on earth did she say to him to not only make him walk out of the store, but then turn himself into police???!

That is one scary lady! They should link her up with the Saitama anti-groping campaign - no-one will touch another skirt on the train after she`s finished training all the women on that line!

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Don't mess with Obasan.

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Sure doesn't seem like she learned a thing from that seminar. I don't see how yelling can be considered "calm demeanor".

Perhaps she knew the punk from the neighborhood and was just used to yelling at him.

BTW, why was her age listed and not his?

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This so-called "robber" wanted shelter and a hot meal. That's it. End of story.

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That so-called "wooden stick" was half of a pair of chopsticks.

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Japan is full of dumb news

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what a pussy

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“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

yeah lol

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Whatever he was thinking, I'm glad to not be reading about yet another senseless stabbing. That's one tough old lady!!

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"she glared at the man and yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"The woman's calm demeanor during the incident was likely highly effective"

That was her calm demeanor? I'd hate to see her pissed off.

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"Japan is full of dumb news" ... Hahahah. Yes, but hilarious.

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Epic Failure of the grandest sort. Good on the clerk who yelled at him.

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Good on the clerk! Though yelling at a potential robber is a pretty dangerous thing to do. My guess is this guy really didn't want to rob the store in the first place, gave up at the first sign of resistance, then turned himself in because he couldn't fight his guilty conscience anymore. Glad no one was injured, and now the oba-san has a neat story to tell her grandkids someday.

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He threatened her with a wooden stick. What a chopstick? No wonder she yelled at him in a calm demeanor.

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“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” is not part of Japanese vernacular as far as i know.

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It never said she yelled. That's simply the translator's personal interpretation.

"What in the world do you think you're doing" is part of Japanese vernacular, so that's probably what she was saying. Which can be translated correctly as "What the hell" depending on the context and tone of voice.

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This was a 59 year old guy with a stick and 4 people who could have each taken him on single handedly. I doubt you'd be intimidated in this situation knowing he obviously didn't have any other weapon and just hatched this plan on a whim. Some robbers are pretty half hearted these days and you can tell. Some of them get shot by the clerk.

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Not only moral-less, but just plain stupid!

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Right now teaching in Japan can be interesting, but its not a career. Do it on the side and start your own business doing something else to keep you going in the future. There are a lot of other things you can do.

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so cute!!!

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