The hostesses of Tokyo’s red-light districts can rest easier tonight, knowing that their Jimmy Choos and Louboutins are safe. Police arrested 28-year-old Sho Sato for a rash of shoe thefts from clubs across the capital and neighboring Kanagawa and Saitama Prefectures.
Sato admitted to the charges, saying the pleasure of stealing was his—ahem!—sole reason for taking the shoes.
Sato was arrested this month trying to steal money from a club in Ikebukuro. During their investigation, police discovered a room being rented to Sato, which when searched, was found to contain 248 pairs of high heels. This allowed them to connect him to a November 2013 robbery of a high-end club in Ginza, where 14 pairs of shoes, cosmetics and about 550,000 yen (US$5,400) were taken from a staff dressing room.
Sato reportedly said, “I took the shoes just for the pleasure of stealing them. The dressing room of a hostess club is a gold mine.”
Police are now working to link Sato to past thefts with a similar MO, so we doubt there will be many more Manolos in his future. They wouldn’t match with the prison stripes anyway.
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