Porn-filled crane games. Fule that under: only in Japan.

Crane games, a.k.a. UFO catchers, are extremely popular in Japan. Go to any arcade and alongside all the video games you’ll find rows and rows of these things. Although fun, unfortunately, these machines can quickly leave you broke. But what if you really want that prize that is stuck behind the glass and you’re out of money? Well, you could either do the right thing and just give up, go home, and come back another day, or you could be like one man who on Wednesday allegedly stole adult DVDs from a crane game in Saga Prefecture and got caught red-handed.

According to police in Saga Prefecture, early in the morning of March 7, the suspect, a 54-year-old temporary worker, was in an arcade in Saga City. There he waited until he was alone and used a stick-like object he found inside the arcade to steal prizes from an adults-only crane game filled with pornographic DVDs. The original report describes the suspect “adeptly” using the stick-like object to pull out a total of two risque DVDs (total value: 2,000 yen) from the machine via the opening where prizes are dispensed.

As the suspect was hard at work pilfering sexy movies, a man walking past the arcade spotted the suspect from the outside of the facility and called police. Police arrived at the arcade shortly thereafter, caught the suspect in the act, and arrested him on the spot.

At the time of his arrest the suspect had in his possession 175 yen. The claw machine he was stealing from cost 100 yen per play. In other words, he had enough money to play once. However, it seems the suspect either had other plans for that money or just didn’t believe in his crane game skills enough to risk blowing his last few yens.

Reports have yet to reveal whether police have told the suspect that he can get the same kind of content as what was on those DVDs on the internet and for free.

If you’d like to see a CG dramatization of this story, check out the TomoNews Japan video below.

Source: Saga Shinbun via TomoNews Japan

Image: 棒でクレーンゲームの景品盗んだ凄腕の54歳逮捕 – トモニュース (TomoNews Japan)