KANAGAWA - A deputy priest at Myoenji temple in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, caught a man red-handed shortly after midnight on September 27 after surveillance footage showed the same person repeatedly appearing at the temple at around the same time each day.
Security camera footage showed the man entering through a torii gate shortly after midnight and leaning over to inspect an offering box without putting any money inside.
He then moved to another offering box, lowered it to the ground and turned it upside down. After picking up money that fell out, he headed toward the exit.
The man appeared to have escaped, but moments later he was seen being brought back by another man, who was the temple's deputy priest.
The deputy priest said he had noticed a pattern while monitoring the temple's security cameras.
"The same person was coming every day at the same time," he said. "I noticed it by watching the surveillance cameras."
The temple had previously been targeted by offering box thieves on five occasions. With the deputy priest keeping watch, he witnessed the latest theft, rushed out of his home and caught the suspect.
The temple's cameras had also recorded another suspicious incident several days earlier.
On September 22, two people wearing balaclavas entered the temple grounds through a gap in a hedge.
"People dressed in a way that made them look like thieves came in through the hedge, so I called the police," the deputy priest said.
Nothing was stolen during that incident, and the deputy priest said the two masked individuals had not returned since September 22.
Police arrested 47-year-old Noboru Kato, who described himself as unemployed, on suspicion of stealing 1,500 yen in cash from an offering box.
Kato has admitted the allegation, according to police, who plan to investigate whether he was involved in other thefts.
Source: FNN
