Man arrested after rice cooker found plugged into neighbor’s home

However, one commenter summed it up best saying, “I really feel like some rice now.”

How is this summing it up the best?

Also, did they at least let him finish cooking his rice?

Did he ask any neighbors for help? If he did, would they offer any?

I don't know about this particular guy in question, but if my neighbors lost their power, I would happily run an extension cord to their house.

so the culprit has finally succeeded in getting free rice daily on taxpayers' account.

'Knowing that time was of the essence, police rushed to the scene.'

Not sure whether the writer is being sarcastic or not, but surely the police have more serious crimes to solve than someone stealing a neighbour's electricity?

Sure most people, me included, would be sympathetic to the guy who could not pay for his electricity but I would NOT be happy to find out that the neighbor had been doing that behind my back!

He should have asked, but if I knew about the circumstances afterwards, I would definitely drop the charges. Let the guy go!

I was in a cafe in Tokyo and plugged my laptop into a wall socket. When the waitress spotted it, she had a hissy fit. Maybe I was in danger of being arrested?

@JeffLee

You definitely could have been arrested if the shop manager decided to press charges. I remember a while back, a high school girl was arrested for plugging her cell into an outlet at a train station. The bill added up to less than a yen, but she was arrested for theft anyway.

Did they call in the rice squad?

Yes, The "porice".

@JeffLee

Friend of mine was hassled by a security guard at Narita airport for charging his phone, even though there are areas available providing free wifi and power outlets to use your laptop

I guess you resort to rice if you're not the breadwinner!

He could have just asked for permission to cook rice...it is not a big deal! I leave near a park that is used by schools and the neighbors often provide electric connection to the park users for free.

The police then arrested the man for theft, with only a few more minutes until the rice was finished.

What a badass police! This is an example of what they are really doing instead of putting more efforts in more serious stuff. Anyway, if it were me I would wait and see who's using my electricity and then resolve it in peace instead of calling the police.

Poor neighbor. x 2

It must be great to live in a country where the only serious crime is someone cooking rice using you outside electrical outlet. With such a low crime rate, why do they bother to even have a police department? [Grin]

can you really "steal" someone's electricity? and wouldn't the usage have been about 20 yen or something? i think the police have better things to do.

Although the old guy was stealing, the other guy shouldn't have called the police. He should have "relieved himself" in the rice or something and left it as it was. Or, thrown it through the old dudes window.

He could have used his oven with an ordinaly pan to cook rice. Gas was also shut?

Is this felony theft or petty theft.

@Marcelito

if you wanna get off scotch free

Free scotch ? WHERE ???

I actually thumbed you up though ! I also believe you were being sarcastic but somebody didn't get it because you were -1...

Others were less lenient, saying the suspect’s reckless behavior endangered the neighbor’s life by placing a potential fire hazard outside the house.

For "less lenient", read "petty and stupid".

What an awkward future they will have. I suppose the two neighbours will now have to pretend the other doesn't exist. Wonder if that was happening already.

@ TokyoGas...

Most likely ends up petty theft with a warning infraction.

Poor man needs a solar cooker

He immediately called the police and reported the meal which was being prepared in his yard without his consent.

What a pathetic idiot. Is it really so hard to knock on your neighbors door, and ask what's up? Maybe work out some kind of deal, an hour of rice cooking for a couple hundred yen?

Seriously. Calling the cops right off the bat? What utter helplessness.

I'll bet about twenty cops showed up and made like they were arresting public enemy number one...

Most likely ends up petty theft with a warning infraction.

At least he'll be charged.

@gaijinfo, knocking on the neighbors door?? thats way too much confrontation for people here. best to let the police handle it. pathetic idiot is about right, id also add callous

What a "petty ass----!" He could have waited to see who comes to get the rice, then ask about it. But no, instead....he dicks out and calls the police. No compassion, no neighbor, just a selfish kumquat!

The guy with no electric should have built a fire in his garden. Or invested in a solar cooker, as HighLama said above.

Taking electricity without asking is theft and the guy knew he was being underhanded.

Japan, the land of passive aggression! The police didn't need to be involved. If I were this homeowner, I would've simply waited for the rice cooker's owner to come back for the rice, and say, "Hey uhhh... what's going on here?" Then once you've got the full scoop (ha), decide what to do. I bet if he had been asked to knock it off, he would've. Obviously the guy's down on his luck if his power's shut off. Now he has a criminal record too. Great.

Calling the police immediately and getting the guy arrested might be a bit much, but considering how exorbitantly expensive electricity is in this country, it's kind of understandable. For all this homeowner knew, maybe this kind of thing (perhaps not always rice) had been going on for quite a while.

Is Osaka like another country?? Does not sound very Japanese but who knows, poor dude gets arrested and no rice!!

How does anyone know the best thing to do, inverse?

Maybe you are right, it was better to confront him, but maybe the 'thief' is also a local troublemaker and volatile/aggressive.

hilarious!! I guess the old guy was too proud to ask for help, and the "victim" was too proud to let it go!

I would have just taken the rice and ate it myself as payment

Then probably the guy wouldn't do that again :P

What a badass police! This is an example of what they are really doing instead of putting more efforts in more serious stuff.

In defence of the police, what else are they supposed to do? It's not like they are cracking down on electricity theft or anything. They responded to a complaint. However petty the crime, and however much a heartless bastard the neighbour may be, he was the victim of a crime and if he insists on pressing charges, the police have no choice but to carry out the request.

I have been in a similar situation (not electricity theft, but the victim of a crime), and the police said it was entirely up to me, not them, whether or not to press charges. They explained my options, the pros and cons of each choice, and let me decide what to do about the perpetrator.

You don't let your neighbor not cook rice in your garden! That's just wrong!

he had begun using other homes power outlets to do his cooking

This is the first time the old boy got caught, not the first he did it. No sympathies here...cops being called was the right move, no matter how petty it may seem. Dude that called the police didn't know who it was or how the 'culprit' would react.

@papasmurfinjapan

However petty the crime, and however much a heartless bastard the neighbour may be, he was the victim of a crime and if he insists on pressing charges, the police have no choice but to carry out the request.

Now if only the police had thought of it that way - when the young lady was killed by a stalker (in my book, a far more hefty crime) she might still be alive today.

@Marcelito : I think we understand each other perfectly ! Pity the mods have no sense of humour... (Hope you see this before it's deleted !)

Too bad people in this country don't even know or speak with your next door fellow. Where i came from is totally normal to call a neighbor for a cup of a sugar or a midnight aspirin. Its also common to show at his door with an awesome peace of cake you just baked and offer with no expectations of getting anything in return.

Same incident happened with me 3 years back when I suspect my electricity bill which was much higher than usual for a single who spent 18 hours out of his house. On investigation I found a couple residing beside my house was using my washing machine, I dont know what to do hence I put a board near washing m/c written in Japanese "please clean it once done" and those guys stop using my m/c. Personally I think if you dont understand your neighbours then what kind of society you are living in and for what?

It's a completely different story when construction workers use your electricity for their building... When I lived in Ota-ku, they decided to build a new apartment lot next to our house. I went back to France for the Christmas holidays to find a bill for more than 15 000 yen when I got back - although the previous month, it had been for less than 5 000 yen with me at home... That's when I told the landlord to put a lock on the garage door - there were two sockets in the garage and since my car wasn't there while I was away, they were very easy to reach. It didn't happen again after a lock was installed.

Operator: Emergency Service can I help you? Caller: HELPPPPPPPPPP. SOMEONE IS COOKING RICE IN MY BACKYARD. Operator: Calm down sir. We will get the police there ASAP. Caller: PLEASE HURRY. The rice is gonna be cooked IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES. Operator: Sit tight and stay on the line until the police arrive sir. Now tell me again...how long until the rice is cooked?

I hope they don't lock him up even for the night. The electricity is free in jail, and they cook the food for you. He might take a serious liking the to the place, and resolve to do whatever it takes to keep living there!

not really a steak out then was it

The story has too little info about the neighbors to make any judgement. You can't tell which one was good or bad or either way. But one guy was stealing electricity.

Wonder if the police took the rice cooker for "evidence" and also wonder if they brought boxes to the guys house and seized all his food as part of this ongoing investigation of theft.?

"...with only a few more minutes until the rice was finished." LOL

So, CEOs of companies like Olympis can literally steal billions of yen from the taxpayers and get off Scott-free, but a guy who uses an external plug to make rice gets arrested?

Yeah, something's not right.

I remember my buddy (whose wife worries and calls each ten minutes he is late lol) his phone died on the way home and he thought "oh crap, 45 minute walk home... No buses, no taxis... (In deep kitano) so on the way... He stopped by a gas station/conbini (cant remember) and unplugged a drink machine to get some phone juice to call his wife.... He heard a man yelling hysterically like he was barking... It was a staff member of the store and he stood up to reason with / apologize to the guy... But he ran to his little store locked the door and was screaming into his phone ... My friend grabbed his phone and charger and plugged the drink machine back.... And tried to run away.... Lol

A squad car appeared instantly and arrested him...

They called his wife, had her come out to pick him up... And said they wouldnt press charges because he knew his mistake and tried to plug the machine in again.... Lol

What a great country!!! Lol

This seems like a bit of overkill as-reported. In a civilized society, you unplug the device and take it indoors to await whomever comes looking for it. You then tell them to "cease and desist using your electricity without permission" and return the rice cooker with the partially cooked rice still inside. If it happens again, THEN you call the police. So many issues can be solved with a word or two without having to bring the law into it if only people would try it.

Ours is a very forgiving society ready to help people in need...but only when a person asks for help first and is honest about his own dilemma. It is sad a common sensibilities are being lost in Japan with these petty crimes.

I would have eaten the rice and left a thank you note!

hilarious, now i'm getting ideas. My neighbour has a generator during power cuts.

My neighbor has done some pretty strange things... she has a lot of trash sitting in her yard next to her rotting truck. And her tree takes a dumb on my lawn by shedding it's leaves all over the place! She does not subscribe to mandatory city trash service... which leads me to wonder what she does with the trash that doesn't get left in her yard. OUt of the blue she offered me a ladder just yesterday, to help cut down some of the branches on her tree. My point is this... what happened with the rice cooker is probably the tip of the ice burg. This has been going on for some time!

He could have atleast let the man finish cooking his rice before calling the police.

he can charge him 500 yen .... or at lease asking permission im sure they would allowed him to use the electricity.

He could have atleast let the man finish cooking his rice before calling the police.

Not really. According to another article, the man had accidentally set the machine to warm the rice, not cook it, after all that!