52-Year-Old Ex-Supermarket Worker Arrested for Stalking Former Colleague: Chilling Confession

Showed up at the victim’s workplace ……

I really wanted to see his face.

The suspect, Ayano Sato, 52, was arrested by the Funabashi Police Station of the Chiba Prefectural Police on October 15 on suspicion of violating the Stalker Regulation Law.

Sato is suspected of stalking Mr. A, a former co-worker in his 30s at a supermarket where he used to work.

Between September 17 and 29, the suspect came to the supermarket on Ms. A’s workdays and gawked at her, not necessarily shopping. The Sato suspect had already received three warnings for following Ms. A.” (reporter from the society section of a national newspaper)

Sato’s stalking began in May 2010. The police, who were consulted by Ms. A, issued a warning, which calmed things down, but a year later, in May 2011, the suspect contacted Ms. A on SNS and by letter, asking her to meet him and to go out with him. Again, the police gave him another warning, and the situation was settled.

However, another year passed, and in July of this year, the Sato suspect began showing up frequently at the supermarket where Ms. A worked. Ms. A felt “uncomfortable” and consulted the police. She was warned for the third time that she was being stalked.

The third warning was given to Mr. A. “A warning does not end with a verbal warning,” said Mr. A. “It’s not enough to say, ‘You can’t do this. We use a leaflet to explain to them that this is stalking, and they have to sign it after they are satisfied with the explanation. In the past, warnings were given only once a year, but this time they were given in July and September. This time, however, they continued in July and September, and we decided to arrest them because of their maliciousness.

One witness said, “He was an affable person.”

A man who lives near the apartment where Sato lives confided that at the time of his arrest, “I heard a woman’s voice saying, ‘Please wait,’ or ‘Help me.

Around 8:00 a.m., I heard a woman’s voice saying, ‘Please wait,’ or ‘Help me. As I listened to what was going on, I heard the voices of several men and women. Another woman was speaking to me as if admonishing me repeatedly, saying, ‘Mr. Sato, please calm down.

The suspect Sato had been a cashier at another supermarket before his arrest. A customer who has used the store many times testified about her surprising true face.

He was an affable person who would talk to me while I was working the register, saying things like, ‘This is cheap,’ or ‘This is a good deal. When I bought something heavy, he even went out of his way to bring it to me outside the store.

On the other hand, a man who lived in the same apartment as Sato saw “another face.

She’s kind of a mysterious woman,” he said. When I greeted her, she only glanced at me. （I happened to be nearby when she opened the door to go out, but when she saw me, she closed the door with a bang and retreated into her room. Anyway, he had a very strong aura of not wanting me to talk to him.

A former reporter from the social affairs section said, “He said, ‘I have feelings of love for Mr. A.’

I couldn’t suppress my feelings for Ms. A, so I went to the store because I really wanted to see her working there,” said Sato. On the other hand, he also said, “How can I be arrested for something like this?

Even after being arrested, I wonder if he still thinks, “I can’t help it because I like her.” ……