The Hiroshima Prefectural Police on Saturday arrested one of its own officers on suspicion of stealing a handbag from a man drinking at a bar in Hiroshima city.
The suspect, Fumio Matsukawa, 42, is an assistant inspector at Hiroshima Higashi police station. He allegedly stole the bag, containing 39,000 yen and other items, from a company executive drinking at a bar in Naka Ward in the early hours of Friday.
"I was tempted by an evil spirit," Matsukawa said when questioned by police.
Police said Matsukawa stopped at the bar after attending a New Year's party with fellow Hiroshima Higashi police officers on Thursday night.
The company executive, 50, notified Hiroshima Higashi police after discovering that the bag, which he had put on a chair, was missing.
Matsukawa admitted stealing the bag after the police learned he was at the bar at the time the bag was stolen.
Kuninari Mizuta, head of the inspectorate at Hiroshima Prefectural Police Department, said disciplinary action against Matsukawa would be taken after further investigation.