Toyama - A 35-year-old unemployed man has been indicted in Toyama Prefecture on November 6 for allegedly breaking into a junior high school and stealing insoles from students' indoor shoes, with police seizing 451 insoles from his home and investigating suspected thefts at more than 30 schools across the prefecture.
The defendant, identified as Matsuzaki, who has no fixed address, is accused of entering a junior high school in Takaoka City in October and stealing four pairs of insoles, totaling eight individual pieces, from students' indoor footwear.
Police displayed the 451 confiscated insoles arranged in rows on a blue sheet, revealing the scale of the suspected thefts.
Investigators believe Matsuzaki entered more than 30 elementary, junior high and high schools throughout Toyama Prefecture to carry out similar offenses.
According to police, Matsuzaki admitted during questioning that he had been stealing shoe insoles since he was a junior high school student but began doing so regularly about two years ago.
He reportedly told investigators that he selected his targets using information obtained from the internet and television before carrying out the thefts.
Matsuzaki also said he deliberately targeted schools at night when no one was present, allowing him to enter the buildings and steal the insoles without being noticed.
The defendant, Daisuke Matsuzaki, reportedly told police that he targeted unlocked entrances and other unsecured access points at night when entering school buildings.
Police are continuing to investigate the full extent of the suspected thefts, including whether Matsuzaki was responsible for additional incidents at schools across the prefecture.
Source: 日テレNEWS
