CHIBA (Kyodo) A 47-year-old Tokyo police officer who is also a bodyguard for ranking opposition lawmaker Nobuteru Ishihara was arrested Thursday on suspicion of trespassing and admitted he was trying to spy on a woman taking a bath, police said.

Masahiro Kato, an assistant inspector in the Metropolitan Police Department, was observed standing near a bathroom window by a resident of a house in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, at around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday while a woman inside was bathing.

Kato initially told investigators he had stopped at the house to relieve himself but later admitted entering the premises to peep at the woman in the bath, they said.

After fleeing, Kato returned to the house and asked the family what happened, pretending the trespasser was someone else. He then tried to ride away on his bicycle but was caught and turned over to the police after the family became suspicious about his behavior, the police said.

He told investigators he returned to the scene because he had left his bike behind.

Ishihara is secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party. His father, Shintaro, is governor of Tokyo.

Randy banker busted

MATSUE Shimane Pref. (Kyodo) A bank official was arrested Thursday on suspicion of peeping into the women's section of a bathhouse in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, in September, police said.

Kei Fukuma, 51, the local branch manager for San-in Godo Bank, was allegedly spying on the women through a window on the morning of Sept. 14.