"Cop"

On Saturday morning I reached the bottom of the staircase at my apartment building which is closest to the parking lot.  I noticed a pair of scissors with a plastic cover over them and a strip of yellow tape next to it.  On the tape was the word "CAUTION".  I thought that was a bit odd.  Reminded me of the yellow tape that police forces back in North America use to cordon off a crime site.

As I walked to the drugstore next door I noticed a large number of police cars parked in the store's lot.  There obviously was something going on but I didn't stop to try and figure out what the fuss was all about.  I took the above photo and sent it by Line to our office manager.  She had taken the day off to attend a friend's wedding in Sendai so she wasn't around to see all the police cars.  I attached a teasing caption which read "They're looking for you".  She fired back a reply of shock and I added "....joke".  (I found out of Sunday from her that she had initially thought something had gone wrong with the heaters she had set to fire up by timers.  Oops!  Bad coincidence.)

Anyways, in one of my morning classes I mentioned the gathering of "cop cars".  The students may or may not have understood what I meant by that.  So I went into a short explanation of the origins of the word "cop" as it pertains to the police.  That was edifying for the students.  They seemed to appreciate it.

Later in the day my co-worker James mentioned that a police officer had visited the school asking to speak to me.  I had been teaching at the time so he advised the officer that I was busy.

When I got home that evening a couple of people were speaking to my neighbour.  They were just finishing up and they turned to me next.  They identified themselves as members of the Yonezawa police department.  There had been a robbery the previous night and they wanted to know of my whereabouts (I hadn't gone out the previous night and had gone to bed around midnight).  I mentioned I had heard people rushing about at some hour early in the morning but I hadn't checked on the time or things in general.

Last night I was called upon at home by two different police officers.  The first officer showed me his badge.  That was the first Japanese police badge I'd ever set eyes on.  They apologized for the inconvenience of calling at a late hour and asked if it was okay if they could ask a few questions.  In particular they wanted to know if I'd be willing to identify the shoes I usually wear.  I produced them and pointed out which pair I wear for work and which are my leisure wear pair.  The second officer took them aside to take prints of the bottoms of my shoes.  The first officer explained that they had found the suspects shoe prints and they wanted to ensure that they eliminated the shoes of the occupants of the building.  Once they took the prints they asked me to certify them.  That was done with a signature and a finger print (I had misplaced my registered name seal so a finger print was the acceptable substitute).

Hopefully that will mark the end of my participation in the police investigation.  As for the actual crime, I only have heard the following: the victim works in a bar, she only had ¥3000 in her wallet that night, and the incident happened around 1AM.  In addition the victim had feared for her life at the time of the incident.  So I presume she was assaulted.  The scissors I had seen on Saturday morning likely might of been her assailant's weapon.

Someone else I know had been the intended victim of an attempted purse snatching a number of years ago.  Like the incident at my apartment, it had happened as she got home to her apartment after a night's work.  In her case the want-to-be robber was wearing a tiger mask much like one worn by a character from a popular wrestling manga.  She had hung onto her purse for dear life and managed to beat off her assailant.  When we talked about the incident at my place, she reflected on the outcome of her case.  "They still haven't caught the guy", she said.  Hopefully the outcome in this case will be different.

-*-

Post script:  A news story, in Japanese, describing the incident can be read here:
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20151215-00000286-yamagata-l06. The article mentions additional details such as the victim works at a nearby eatery, she had an inkling she was being followed, and the assailant had said "I'm going to kill you".  All in all, a very traumatic incident.