A 30-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of stealing a luxury wristwatch — which was sent back to the shop days later?—?at the Nakano Broadway shopping complex in Tokyo, according to investigative sources.
The theft occurred on Oct. 29 at a watch shop on the third floor of the complex in Nakano Ward. The suspect allegedly tried on a luxury Audemars Piguet watch?worth ?46 million ($290,000) and fled with it.
The suspect was believed to have taken a bullet train from Tokyo Station following the incident and headed west, NHK reported.
The Metropolitan Police Department investigating the case located the man in Nagoya and apprehended him.
He has largely admitted to the allegation, telling investigators, “When I tried on the watch, I looked at myself in the mirror and really liked how it looked. Before I knew it, I had walked out of the store wearing it.”
The stolen wristwatch was returned to the store via a delivery service on Nov. 1, accompanied by a handwritten note of apology. He reportedly told police that he was the one?who had sent the wristwatch.
After checking its serial number, the shop’s staff confirmed that it was indeed the stolen item.
The package had been sent from Aichi Prefecture.?A name and address were also written on the package, but police believed the information to be false.
In a separate incident at the same shopping complex in August, four luxury watches with a combined retail value of about ?200 million were stolen from another shop on the first floor. Two Chilean nationals were arrested on suspicion of theft in connection with the incident and subsequently indicted.
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