Two men have been arrested on suspicion of assaulting and robbing a woman after breaking into her apartment in Yokohama.
Police said the incident occurred at around 8:30 p.m. on April 1 at the apartment in Kanagawa Ward, Jiji Press reported.
According to police, Yukio Kaji, 41, and Ken Murakami, 45, entered the 28-year-old woman’s apartment through the balcony window shortly before the woman returned home. They allegedly threatened her with a knife, punched her in the face, inflicting minor injuries, and stole her wallet and bag.
Police said the two men were identified from an analysis of security camera footage. Arrest warrants were issued on April 7, and they were placed on a nationwide wanted list. They were arrested on Tuesday.
Since the end of March, nearly 10 incidents have occurred in Yokohama City and Nerima and Setagaya wards of Tokyo, where two men have broken into homes, threatened victims with knives and stolen money. There have also been cases of sexual assault. Kanagawa Prefectural Police and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are investigating the possibility that the Kaji and Murakami were involved.
Police said they had both served time for robbery and other crimes and had been released from prison earlier this year.
According to investigative sources, in 2006, Kaji was arrested on charges of robbery and rape after breaking into a woman’s home in Tokyo. He received an 18-year prison sentence. Murakami was arrested in 2007 on charges of rape resulting in injury and attempted robbery against multiple women, and received a 19-year prison sentence.
The two are believed to have met while serving their sentences at Yamagata Prison in Yamagata Prefecture. After being released, both men started working for the same company in Tokyo, but at the end of March, they stopped showing up for work and their whereabouts had been unknown.
© Japan Today
