Asia-Pacific

Lingerie thief arrested in Japan

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-03-14 14:02

TOKYO - Police found more than 4,000 pieces of lingerie in the home of a Japanese construction worker who used climbing skills developed on his job to steal women's underwear.

In this file photo lingerie maker Triumph International Japan's "No More Plastics Bags Bra", a bra which converts into a shopping bag, is shown at the company showroom in Tokyo November 8, 2006. [Reuters]

Police believe that Shigeo Kodama, 54, amassed the 3,977 panties, 355 bras and 10 pairs of stockings over a six-year period. He was arrested in February after he stole underwear from two houses, and police later raided his home.

"Since he was a construction worker, as long as he had a place to put his feet he was able to climb, so he had no trouble getting up to the second floor of apartment buildings," a police spokesman in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima said.

"He didn't steal any other kinds of clothing. But as long as it was underwear, apparently anything would do," the spokesman added.