Female part-timer at Sukiya robs own restaurant with hand saw

Saturday 31st October, 02:01 AM JST

KANAGAWA —

A 28-year-old woman was arrested for robbery and assault on Thursday, after she allegedly tried to rob the Sukiya fast food restaurant she worked at in Atsugi City, police said.

Keiko Ito, who worked at the store several times a week for the past two years, is accused of entering the store just after 1 a.m. and threatening a 26-year-old male employee with a saw that had a 23-cm-long blade. She locked him in the freezer and took about 220,000 yen from the store’s safe. As she was leaving, the employee forced his way out of the freezer and apprehended her. The man suffered minor injuries to his arm in subduing Ito, but was able to call police and she was arrested at the scene.

Ito entered the restaurant wearing black clothes, a silver helmet and had a white face mask on, which—coupled with her short hair and medium-build—led police to believe the assailant was a male when they arrived.

Ito has admitted to the allegation and was quoted by police as saying: “I did it to help my parents repay their debts. No matter how much I worked, we always struggled to get by.”

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 35 Total Comments Show All

usaexpat at 11:45 PM JST - 30th October

Well she committed a crime but the greater crime is that of underemployment and hopelessness in Japanese society. This poor lady was desperate enough to rob her own workplace in trying to help out her parents.
ca1ic0cat at 12:40 AM JST - 31st October

Most walk in freezers would have a door release on the inside to prevent this kind of thing from becoming fatal. Even if the outside latch is locked somebody inside can get out.

Using a Japanese saw as a weapon - that's just nasty. Those things will do damage!
fondofj at 02:30 AM JST - 31st October

Crime rate has increased in an alarming rate. The driving force of crime is the ongoing hopelessness in the economy. How funny! This time the woman's name is published but the woman of 34 arrested in fraud case of $90 million and 4 suspicious death is highly regarded by the media.
nigelboy at 02:44 AM JST - 31st October

Crime rate has increased in an alarming rate. The driving force of crime is the ongoing hopelessness in the economy.

Actually, it's down.

http://www.npa.go.jp/toukei/seianki8/h21kamihanki.pdf
notimpressed at 01:09 PM JST - 31st October

Dbung:locking them in a freezer isnt cool

are you sure about that one?
Miyaratmosphere at 04:25 PM JST - 31st October

Crime rate has increased in an alarming rate. The driving force of crime is the ongoing hopelessness in the economy. How funny! This time the woman's name is published but the woman of 34 arrested in fraud case of $90 million and 4 suspicious death is highly regarded by the media.

yeah, something really stinks here...I smell discrimination!!! WTF?!
PepinGalarga at 06:17 PM JST - 31st October

I doubt she would have left the guy to die there.

About timorborder's post, things could be much worse here. There are countries near Japan where people have no food, get shot at all day or have an occasional civil war, the government steals all the money, etc., etc.... I mean, things in Japan are still pretty good relative to other countries.

Also, go back 2-3 generations, and they could know the real hardships that their grandparents and great-grandparents faced. Their country was reduced to ruins, and some even had a nuclear bomb dropped on them. That's real hardship... Life today is like living in a country club compared to that.
onewrldoneppl at 08:30 PM JST - 31st October

how many wall-streeters robbed their own companies with worse than a hacksaw, and got away with nary a slap on the wrist?
Sarge at 10:09 PM JST - 31st October

"how many wall-streeters robbed their own companies with worse than a hacksaw, and got away with nary a slap on the wrist?"

That's because there was no violence involved. Can you believe that?
MeanRingo at 01:54 AM JST - 1st November

Way to go Timorborder. On one hand you feel pity and sympathy for a woman who assaults a coworker and robs a place, and on the other you want the legal system to dole out five years of hard labour for someone caught with 0.008 grams of drugs. Hmmmmm, well positioned.
DenDon at 05:24 PM JST - 1st November

robbed employer with a saw? must have been hacked off about something.
telecasterplayer at 01:00 PM JST - 2nd November

she should have robbed the place with an MBA. then she would have been promoted and given a taxpayer funded bonus.
Yelnats at 03:45 PM JST - 2nd November

If one uses a Japanese saw as a weapon, you have to pull the saw towards you in order to cut. Western saws use a push method. If she had two Japanese saws, she could have slapped him across the ears to stun him and not have a need to put him in the freezer to chill out and be cool.
Shylock at 05:47 PM JST - 2nd November

Poor guy, I wonder if he saw it coming.
mnemosyne23 at 12:51 AM JST - 3rd November

head tilt With a HAND SAW? That's got to be one of the more inefficient weapons I've heard of recently. Useful if you're trying to mug a tree, maybe, but a bit unwieldy and ineffective when it comes to trying to keep a person at bay. Now, if it had been an ELECTRIC saw -- say a skill saw or even a circular saw -- then okay. That's got some serious cutting power.