On Thursday night, three suspects sprayed five people with what appeared to be tear gas and fled with suitcases containing around ¥420 million in cash near JR Okachimachi Station in Tokyo. A nearby hit-and-run left a man in his 50s with minor injuries, suspected to involve the fleeing robbers. Police are probing a possible connection to a similar attack at Haneda Airport.
The robbery occurred around 9:30 p.m. on January 29 in Taito Ward near JR Okachimachi Station, where three Japanese and two Chinese nationals, aged in their 20s to 40s, were loading three suitcases into a passenger car. The three suspects sprayed one of the victims—a Chinese man in his 40s—with pepper spray before fleeing with the suitcases believed to hold approximately ¥420 million in cash. They escaped in what police describe as a blue small passenger car.
The incident took place in a bustling downtown area about 200 meters east of the station. Shortly after the suspects fled, a man in his 50s was struck by a vehicle on a nearby street, suffering minor injuries. Authorities suspect this hit-and-run was carried out by the robbers' getaway car. The abandoned blue vehicle was later found in the vicinity.
A local woman in her 50s, who lives in the neighborhood, remarked, "The area around Okachimachi is lined with jewelry shops and has seen robberies before."
Hours later, early on January 30, a man carrying luggage with ¥190 million in cash was attacked with pepper spray in a parking lot at Haneda Airport, though nothing was stolen. Investigators from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are exploring a potential link between the two incidents.
Okachimachi is known for its jewelry stores and markets, making it a busy spot prone to such crimes, though a theft of this scale is unusual. Police continue to hunt for the suspects.
