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Japanese truck driver steals 5,800 bicycle seats over 25 years “for fun”

Master Blaster Mar 3, 2020
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We all have our vices.

Everyone has their own idiosyncrasies help to relax us after a hard day’s work. Some people enjoy popping bubble wrap, others like to poke holes in fake paper doors. It’s part of what make us all unique, but when our stress relief starts to affect the lives of others it becomes a problem.

For example, Hiroaki Suda of Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture had a relaxation trick that ruined the days of roughly 5,800 people over the span of 25 years. The 57-year-old is currently in the custody of Higashiosaka police, facing charges for stealing the same number of bicycle seats from all over Japan.

▼ The collection on display in the video would only be less than one tenth of what he is accused of stealing.

A truck driver by trade, Suda admitted to police that he started stealing the seats in Tokyo and Osaka about 25 years ago as a way to blow off steam after work. However, he said that it gradually became more and more fun for him.

Suda revealed the location of a storage space where he kept all of his ill-gotten saddles, each one individually wrapped in a plastic bag. They had been collected from all over the country, mainly urban areas that he had stopped in while truck driving.

Despite being only bicycle seats, it’s still a surprisingly long crime spree, and one both baffling and impressive to people online.

“Wow. There really are all kinds of people out there.”
“After 5,800 this guy must be one chill dude.”
“He’s got to be some kind of perv, right?”
“He must have some weird connection with bike seats?”
“We are a nation of children.”
“They should make a yokai based on this guy.”
“The works out to about four or five seats a week.”
“I think there’s a Guinness Record here somewhere.”
“It’s probably an interesting collection. I think bike seat technology has changed a lot in 25 years.”

Many were suspicious that Suda was really fulfilling some kind of sexual fetish as have other thieves of low-value items have before him, but considering the sheer scope of his crime, he seemed to take the seats indiscriminately of their owners.

I think he just enjoyed the thrill of living a little dangerously, and I say this because I too enjoy breaking the law as a way to relieve stress. I probably shouldn’t be telling you all this, but… I steal litter.

That’s right, anytime you drop an empty can or cigarette butt on the street, look out because I’m going to snatch that right up without paying or even asking you for it. One time a cop totally saw me pick up an empty potato-chip bag, put it in my pocket, and run away. I must be super fast too, because by the time I stopped, he was nowhere to be seen.

Source: Kyodo, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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