Thief unknowningly streams part of his post-crime conversation too.

Some experienced drinkers adopt a “no cameras” policy when going out and hitting the bars. The logic behind this plan is that what feels like silly fun in the inebriety moment can be embarrassingly dumb during sober reflection the next day, and thus the sort of thing one probably doesn’t want preserved in photos/videos.

However, earlier this month one Japanese man not only kept his phone’s camera on while walking through a bar district in the city of Yokohama, but was live-streaming the stroll too. And while the video isn’t his finest hour, it’s notable not for showing something embarrassing, but for showing a crime in progress, as seen in the video below.

The man began the stream late on the night of Sunday, October 1. In the video, he’s seen wearing a cap and jersey of the local baseball team, the Baystars, who had defeated the visiting Dragons from Nagoya in a 4-0 victory at Yokohama earlier that day. Perhaps with his spirit bolstered after the win, the man appears cheerful, but very sleepy, as he takes a break from walking to sit on the front stoop of a building, eventually falling asleep with his phone’s camera still pointing at his face roughly seven minutes after starting the stream.

With his back slumped against the wall, the man’s messenger bag can be seen resting on his stomach. In time, though, another man’s hand enters the video’s frame, reaches into the bag and steals the streamer’s wallet, as shown at the point queued up here.

The streamer remains asleep through all of this, and eventually seems to shift in his sleep such that the camera slips from its original position and the stream becomes just a black screen with audio. Things continued like this for roughly 30 minutes until the thief who stole the wallet returns. This time he takes the streamer’s phone, but is apparently unaware that it’s still streaming, as it records the thief talking with at least one other criminal as they attempt to maximize their ill-gotten gains.

After walking away from the sleeping streamer, the thief gets into a car and drives away, while using his own phone to call someone. “I just got a set with a mobile phone from a tuna,” he says ‘tuna’ apparently being a codeword between the two for a passed out drunken person. “It looks like there’s a ban debit card or something, so I’ll bring it over like usual, since I heard we can find out the PIN through the phone…I got about 20,000 yen [US$135]) the last time…”

▼ The stream from inside the thief’s car

Later, the video shows the thief entering either an apartment or a hotel room, where he meets with another man. “So did he have a lot? Was there a lot in there?”, the man asks, to which the thief replies “He didn’t have any money at all…But I tried using his ATM card to buy some [e-cigarette liquid] at the convenience store, and it worked.”

In speaking with reporters, the man confirmed that after his wallet was stolen, his card was used to make a purchase of about 20,000 yen from a convenience store.

▼ The apartment building the streamer fell asleep in front of

The neighborhood the crime took place in, Noge, has a reputation as being one of the less safe parts of Yokohama, with one street in the area even acquiring the nickname “Oya Fuko-dori,” or “Street of Unhappy Parents” as a reference to the concern your mom and dad would feel about you spending time there. That said, as with pretty much every “unsafe” part of Japan, you’re unlikely to get mugged, stabbed, or otherwise physically assaulted in Noge. Still, the incident is an important reminder that while Japan has very little crime, it does still have street criminals, so it’s always a smart idea to keep your valuables secure, and to limit your drinking to an amount that’ll let you stay awake until you get home.

Source: FNN Prime Online via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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