Purse Snatchings Likely Committed by Fleeing Suspect in Osaka

August 16, 2018

Osaka- A male suspect who recently fled from a police station in Osaka Prefecture is likely to have committed purse snatchings while on the run, police sources said Thursday.

At least four purse snatchings have been committed by a person riding a dark-colored scooter in the western Japan prefecture since Monday, the day after Junya Hida, 30, escaped from detention at the police station in Tondabayashi, Osaka.

A black scooter was stolen near his home in Matsubara, also Osaka. The Osaka prefectural police believe Hida is behind the scooter theft and purse snatchings.

Hida was detained at the Tondabayashi station mainly on suspicion of theft and rape. He escaped Sunday evening.

A bicycle that Hida is believed to have stolen near the police station was found abandoned in Habikino, just north of Tondabayashi.

According to the police sources, a woman had her purse containing about 2,500 yen in cash and a mobile phone snatched by a man on a dark-colored scooter in Habikino around 9 p.m. Monday (noon GMT).

The purse was found without cash on a dry riverbed in Nishiyodogawa Ward in the city of Osaka and the mobile phone in Habikino.

At least three other purse snatchings were carried out at night by someone using a dark-colored scooter in southern areas of the city of Osaka between Monday and Wednesday. The scooter may be the one stolen in Matsubara, the sources said.

The police have deployed 3,000 officers to hunt the suspect. Security camera footage is being examined for clues to his whereabouts. Jiji Press