Tokyo Panty Thief Causes Massive Train Shut Down

After recovering from injuries sustained while trying
to run from police in September, a suspected panty thief was discharged from
the hospital and subsequently arrested earlier this week.

According to police, on September 25th Masatoshi Maeda,
a 58-year old company worker, stole 4 pairs of women’s panties that were
hanging out to dry from the first floor residence of a woman in her 20’s in the
Kami-Ikebukuro area of Tokyo. After being noticed and questioned about his
actions by a passing man, Maeda fled the scene, jumping over a fence and ending
up on the tracks of Tokyo’s JR Yamanote Line between Ikebukuro and Otsuka
Station. Police eventually captured Maeda but not before he broke bones in his
right leg and lower back.

This incident caused the JR Yamanote Line and other
train lines to stop for approximately 30 minutes, impacting about 19,000
people.

Since his capture Maeda had been in the hospital
recovering from his injuries. Upon his discharge from the hospital police
arrested him, charging him with theft and breaking and entering. Maeda has
admitted to the charges, saying “There is no doubt that I stole the underwear
from the apartment.”

Following Maeda’s capture police searched his
apartment and found 146 pairs of women’s underwear. It is not yet clear whether
all these were also stolen by Maeda but police are investigating.

Although panty thief stories come up fairly frequently
in Japan this is really an exceptional case. And I don’t mean that in a good
way. It’s simply quite amazing that this guy’s desire for panties ended up
inconveniencing almost 20,000 people. If only this guy had just bought his used
panties like all the “decent” used panty lovers out there, none of this would
have happened.

Sourcess: Breaking News Japan, TV Asashi