Japan police arrest notorious ‘Bag Master Yamaguchi’, who has picked pockets on Tokyo subway since 1965
Kazutoshi Yamaguchi was first arrested as a teenager 53 years ago
Police in Tokyo have arrested a veteran pickpocket who has made a living from unsuspecting commuters on the city’s public transport system since at least 1965.
Kazutoshi Yamaguchi, who is 69 years old and also drawing a pension, was taken into custody on Monday after allegedly attempting to steal a purse containing Y6,000 (US$55) from a 19-year-old woman on a train on Tokyo’s Toei Oedo Line.
The ANN News channel said Yamaguchi admitted to the allegations and has been charged with attempted theft.
Police quoted him as saying, “I took the purse because it just appeared in front of me”
Television footage of a bespectacled Yamaguchi being transported to a police station show him looking frail and using a stick to walk.
It is possible that the suspect made the most of his image as an unthreatening pensioner to be overlooked by other passengers on trains that he targeted.
Authorities have not provided details of how many times the notorious Yamaguchi has been arrested, although he first came to the attention of the police in 1965.