Tokyo cops arrest 3 in Kabukicho mugging

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police last week announced the arrest of three suspects for the mugging of a 55-year-old man in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku Ward, reports TV Asahi (April 17).

Officers took Yuya Sato, 26, and two 19-year-old males into custody for allegedly pulling the man from his bicycle and robbing him of 25,000 yen in October of last year.

The victim suffered skull fractures which required two months to heal.

Sato, who has been charged with assault and robbery has denied the charges, telling police that he did not attack the victim though he admits to being at the scene of the crime, according to public broadcaster NHK (April 7).

The two teenage suspects, however, have admitted to the allegations. “I thought people in Kabukicho carried around a lot of money,” one of the suspects is quoted by police.