<figure id="attachment_271259" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-271259" style="width: 5568px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8fe10bf1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/SH5_1826_original.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-271259" class="wp-caption-text">An abandoned hotel surrounded by police. The perpetrators had already fled (some images have been doctored).</figcaption></figure>
 The unprecedented situation occurred on October 20.
 Kanagawa Prefectural Police surrounded a closed-down hotel in Minami Ward, Sagamihara City, where a wanted man, A, was believed to have escaped. The surrounding roads were closed to traffic, and the police were on high alert. However, A had already fled, and the hotel was deserted.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 A is suspected of having locked up two men and assaulted them in a gang war. Around noon of the same day, investigators who were tracking A&#8217;s whereabouts found his car in a coin-operated parking lot near JR Machida Station, and started watching from another parking lot about 60 meters away.
 After a while, A returned. However, when the investigators got out of the car to call out to him, he noticed them and fled. He ran about 100 meters to the site of an abandoned hotel that had closed its doors in August 2009.
 The prefectural police force was increased to 150 officers, and from a little after 3:00 p.m., police officers with batons and wands surrounded the hotel. Police dogs were also deployed, and they surrounded the hotel for four hours. The police tried to execute an arrest warrant immediately after securing A. The atmosphere at the scene was tense.
<h2> All the rooms were searched, but &#8230;&#8230;</h2>
<figure id="attachment_271261" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-271261" style="width: 5568px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d6137c18"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/SH5_1945_original.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-271261" class="wp-caption-text"> The hotel closed last August.</figcaption></figure>
 But after 7 p.m., things suddenly changed. The road was no longer restricted, and police officers suddenly began to withdraw from the scene.
 They discovered that A. was not on the hotel premises. They searched every room in and around the building, but could not find him. We believe that he had fled the scene before the police surrounded the area. The grounds are huge, with a bowling alley and a chapel. Investigators confirmed that A had entered the grounds, but did not seem to know if he had fled into the hotel building&#8221;.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 There is a school near the hotel, where children go to school in groups, and as of October 23, A has not been taken into custody, which must be a cause of concern for the residents of the area. Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa explains the background of the case.
 In July 1992, a police officer was killed in a stand-in incident in the vicinity of the building. The police had to be cautious. I saw the hotel where the incident took place, and it had several exits, so it was a structure from which people could escape from anywhere.
 That does not absolve the police of responsibility. The biggest mistake was that they missed the timing to call out in the parking lot in the first place. They should have approached the perpetrator without being noticed in advance and made the arrest quickly.&#8221;
 A is in his 40s and about 170 cm tall. He was wearing a black baseball cap and navy blue work clothes.
<figure id="attachment_271262" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-271262" style="width: 5568px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6d1fa2a9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/SH5_2098_original.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-271262" class="wp-caption-text"> Kanagawa Prefectural Police officers searching the area</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_271263" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-271263" style="width: 5568px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2e94cbb3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/6SH_2264_original.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-271263" class="wp-caption-text"> The site is huge, with a chapel and bowling alley.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_271264" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-271264" style="width: 5568px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="52701bb3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/6SH_2154a1_original.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-271264" class="wp-caption-text"> A sign indicating that the business is closed</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_271265" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-271265" style="width: 5568px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5e25cc68"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/SH5_1934_original.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-271265" class="wp-caption-text"> Many of the buildings are covered with grass and trees.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_271266" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-271266" style="width: 5568px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a2c144b3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/6SH_2145a_original.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-271266" class="wp-caption-text"> Unoccupied buildings</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_271267" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-271267" style="width: 5568px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4b6aca2c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/SH5_2249_original.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-271267" class="wp-caption-text"> Police officers searching the area</figcaption></figure>

 Shinji Hasuo

 Kanagawa Prefectural Police surrounded a closed-down hotel where a wanted criminal was believed to have escaped. They were on high alert for four hours. However, the criminal escaped and the scene was a complete waste of time. The police were involved in an unprecedented situation. Report from the scene on the background and reasons!

Wanted criminal surrounded… Kanagawa Prefectural Police: “The scene is deserted” – Why the blunder?

Access Ranking