September 6, 2012
TOKYO (AFP) - Police in Japan have arrested a man who allegedly stole nearly 900 books from different libraries, a spokesman said Thursday.
Unemployed Mitsuka Suizu, 61, reportedly told officers: "I wanted to keep the books I read" after they discovered 896 volumes at his home in Ube, western Japan.
A police spokesman said Suizu was initially arrested for the theft of 12 books over a six-month period, but a search of his home revealed his huge stash, which the Yomiuri Shimbun said were worth a combined 2 million yen ($25,000).
Under Japan's penal code, theft is punishable by up to 10 years in jail or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.
