Police in Fukushima Prefecture arrested a 23-year-old pachinko parlor employee on Tuesday over a robbery case in which the employee allegedly opened the parlor's safe while pretending to be threatened to do so by a 19-year-old accomplice.
Issa Manabe, 23, is suspected of conspiring with others to trespass into the parlor in the city of Aizuwakamatsu in the prefecture, then steal about ¥28 million ($190,000) in cash from the safe at around 1:50 a.m. on Aug. 12.
Police have not disclosed whether the suspect admitted to the trespassing and theft charges.
In the case, the 19-year-old who is a vocational school student and Ren Murayama, a 21-year-old part-time worker believed to have acted as the driver, had already been arrested on robbery charges.
Manabe's involvement in the case came to light based on the two's statements and other circumstances.
According to police sources, Manabe left the pachinko parlor with another employee after midnight. He then met up with the student, and the two went to the parlor, with Manabe pretending to be threatened with a gun-like object.
The stolen cash is believed to have been transported by the student and Murayama to a station in Tokyo and handed to a collector in a restroom at the station.
Police believe that they were directed by someone else involved in the case.
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