Tenacious clerk simply refused to let some vitamin-deficient bandits get away.

A simple shoplifting incident turned into a full-blown action sequence last Friday in Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture, leaving one clerk lightly injured and the would-be thief facing attempted murder charges.

At approximately 4 p.m. the suspect, 31-year-old Kazuya Oshita,was allegedly spotted exiting a drug store with about 9,500 yen (US$87) worth of items including supplements in his possession. The 29-year old clerk who witnessed the theft followed Oshita out of the store.

However, the suspect quickly got into a car which was being driven by a 34-year-old man who co-manages a lounge with Oshita. The clerk remained in pursuit and approached the driver’s seat shouting, “Wait!”

Just then the car started to drive off. Perhaps out of instinct, or perhaps because he was standing too close and was worried the car would drag him under, the clerk clung to the window as the car took off down the road.

After dragging the clerk for about 130 meters (427 feet), the car collided with another vehicle and the chase came to an end. Both men in the car were arrested, and Oshita was charged with attempted murder and robbery while the driver is facing reckless driving charges with further charges pending.

Readers of the news were surprised to see an incident escalate so quickly.

“That guy botched every aspect of that crime.”
“That’s a tough employee.”
“The lounge business must not be going well.”
“I don’t think it was attempted murder and robbery because the attempted murder and theft didn’t occur at the same time.”
“The clerk wouldn’t have been dragged so much if he had just let go. Did he think he had the power to stop the car with his bare hands?”

Likely the clerk was fearing that if he let go he’d be run over, so it’s understandable that he would hang on as long as he could. Still, the attempted murder charge is surprising since they probably didn’t expect the clerk to latch onto them and thus had no intent to kill.

The investigation is still ongoing, however, and there appears to be a lot more to unwrap to this story. One thing is for certain: for those lounge managers to go through all that, and for the clerk to put his life on the line, those must have been some amazing supplements.

Source: Sankei News West, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso