Serving up justice.

Sweetroad is a high-end vintage wristwatch shop in Kawasaki, the city bordering Tokyo to the south. It’s located about a seven-minute walk west from Kawasaki Station, a little away from the hustle and bustle of the shopping centers and restaurant/bar districts directly to the station’s north and east.

▼ Sweetroad

But things were anything but quiet last Sunday afternoon, when around 1 p.m. two men, at least one wearing a ski mask, barged into the store and started smashing open the display cases in an attempted smash-and-grab robbery.

▼ It’s a little hard to see, but Sweetroad’s entrance is marked by the red sign.

As the robbers attempted to flee the scene, Sweetroad’s manager gave chase, shouting “Stop!” and “Thief!” as he pursued them down the street. His cries caught the attention of an Indian man working in a restaurant on the same street, who stepped out of his workplace to see what was going on, and when he did he noticed one of the robbers running his way. Thinking quickly, he grabbed an extension cord and threw it at the robber, tripping him up and allowing Sweetroad’s manager and others who had joined in the chase to catch up to and subdue him.

▼ Video of the chase, followed by an interview with the Indian man. While recalling the takedown, he uses the word “rope,” but is holding an extension cord, and seems to indicate with gestures that it was also used to bind the robber’s hands until the police arrived.

Though daytime smash-and-grab robberies are comparatively rare in Japan, the incident follows a similar crime that took place in Tokyo last month.

While the man who was tripped up by the cord has been arrested and taken into custody, his accomplice remains at large, since he was lucky enough to be running in a different direction, outside of the range of any good Samaritans’ immobilizing assistance.

Source: NHK via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Free Sozai.com
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