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Tokyo train passengers team up to take down thief who stole sleeping man’s wallet【Videos】

Casey Baseel Nov 4, 2020
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Quick thinking leads to swift justice on the last train of the night.

A little after midnight on October 31, Japanese Twitter user @greatflam1 was riding the last train of the night on the Keihin Tohoku Line in Tokyo. In front of him, on the bench seats on the opposite side of the carriage, was a man who’d fallen asleep.

People catching a few Zs while riding the train in Japan, especially after a long day of working and/or night of boozing, isn’t such an unusual sight, but this man was out. Not only was he lying prone across three seats, at some point he’d removed his sandals. Speaking of his sandals, after a while another passenger, wearing a black-and-gray camouflage-pattern jacket, entered the car and took up a position standing in front of the sleeping man, openly kicking the fallen sandals under the bench.

@greatflam1 thought this was strange, and so he decided to start quietly filming on his phone, to record whatever might happen next. And sure enough, when the train stopped at Nippori Station, Camouflage Man quickly reached down, grabbed Sleeping Man’s wallet, and hopped off the train with it, as seen in the startling video here.

https://twitter.com/greatflam1/status/1322210408145383425

The victim remained unawakened and unaware of what had happened, but @greatflam1, as well as a few other passengers who’d seen the crime take place, sprang into action and pursued the pickpocket onto the platform, where they tackled and subdued him before handing him over to the station staff, who then called the police to take him into custody.

https://twitter.com/greatflam1/status/1322211102462128128

“He stole that guy’s wallet!” someone can be heard saying in the video, followed by “Too bad for you” as the thief is taken away by the scruff of his neck.

No one appears to have been seriously injured, though @greatflam1 came out of the scuffle with a bruise on his upper arm that his doctor said will take about a week and a half to fully heal. Though the good Samaritan was quick to share credit with the other passengers, station workers, and police who were involved, his quick thinking and willingness to come to the sleeping man’s aid has earned him praise form online commenters such as:

“Awesome!”
“Nice job taking that guy down!”
“Even at the start of the first video, you can tell he’s up to no good.”
“You were really brave to step in like that.”

The incident is a reminder that while Japan is an extremely safe country, crimes do happen, and even if you’re starting to feel drowsy while on the train, it’s often a good idea to keep your eyes open, or at least make sure your wallet is very secure.

Source: Twitter/@greatflam1 via Gogo Tsushin via Jin
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