Man, 24, Put on Public Wanted List over Tokorozawa Robbery

Tokyo/Saitama, Oct. 3 (Jiji Press)--Police in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, placed a 24-year-old man, Rikiya Morita, on a public wanted list Thursday for allegations including his involvement in a robbery resulting in injury this week.

Four men broke into a house in the Saitama city of Tokorozawa in the small hours of Tuesday, tied up an 85-year-old male resident and his 83-year-old wife, and stole cash. The prefecture's police department believes that Morita was one of the robbers.

Morita, whose residence and occupation are unknown, may have also been involved in a robbery incident that occurred in Kokubunji, Tokyo, early Monday, investigative sources said.

According to the Saitama police, Morita is around 170 to 180 centimeters tall, well-built and slightly overweight. He was identified through testimonies by three men already arrested by the Saitama police over the Tokorozawa case and items left at the crime scene, and was put on a police wanted list after the prefectural police obtained an arrest warrant for him Wednesday.

Three vehicles believed to have been used in the Tokorozawa incident were seized near the targeted residence, of which two were captured on security camera footage taken near the Kokubunji robbery site.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]