KUMAMOTO (Kyodo) A man who cooperated in catching a pickpocket last week is apparently one himself, police in Kumamoto said.

Yasuki Sohara, 45, is under arrest for allegedly stealing a wallet from a man who was sleeping on a bench at a bicycle parking lot in June, police said.

Last Wednesday, Sohara, who was riding a bicycle in a park, saw someone lifting a wallet off a 22-year-old man sleeping on a bench, the police said.

Sohara woke the victim up and let him use the bicycle to chase down the pickpocket, according to the police, who arrested the alleged pickpocket after the 300-meter bike sprint.

This, however, sealed Sohara's fate.

While officers were interviewing him about how he cooperated in the capture, one of them noticed in the bicycle's basket a wallet that was reported stolen in June.

Sohara has owned up to stealing both the wallet and the bicycle, the police said.