Wakayama man stealing uniform from school caught by mysterious man in restroom in middle of night

There’s a very thin line between lurking and guarding.

As a child I was always in such a rush to get out of school. I imagined they turned into ghost towns overnight because no one wanted to stay longer than they had to. But it seems much like a forest, schools can sometimes transform into a whole other ecosystem after dark.

At about 9:30 p.m. on 15 June, 55-year-old office worker Tamio Ueda entered a public high school in Wakayama City. He then stole a sailor-style school uniform that was stored in one of the rooms and put it on. Ueda must have been having a whale of a time with his ill-gotten uniform because he was reportedly frolicking in there for hours, well into the early morning of the 16th.

▼ We’re hardly ones to judge, but please acquire your uniforms legally

Image: ©SoraNews24

Then things got even stranger.

At approximately 2:40 a.m. Udea, still wearing the sailor uniform, entered a restroom inside the school. While in there he bumped into another man in his thirties. The man restrained Ueda and called the police to come and arrest him.

In custody Ueda admitted to burglarizing the school for its uniform, but the rest of the world is left wondering: Who the hell was that guy in a school bathroom at 2:40 in the morning?

There are a number of rational explanations such as the man being a security guard, maintenance worker, or teacher working late. However, the report simply described him as a “man in his 30s who lives in Wakayama City.” Clearly, they didn’t omit his job for brevity because they took the time and word-count to bother telling us the pointless fact of where this guy lives.

▼ Perhaps he was researching the gravitational effects of a full moon on mildew

Image: Pakutaso

Readers of the news agree that this omission of information is making the supposed “hero” of this case look more suspicious that the actual burglary suspect.

“Just a guy hanging out in the school restroom at night…”
“Who is this guy?!”
“He’s in the school restroom at 2 a.m.”
“In the bathroom in the middle of the night. What is the situation here?”
“If this happened in the girls’ room then there is some dark stuff going on.”
“This is scary.”
“These kinds of thefts are happening a lot in schools so they probably have patrols. I hope that’s what this is.”
“That restroom is a happening place.”
“It must have been a guard, but why did the report just call him ‘a man?'”
“This is like Jason vs. Freddy.”
“If he wasn’t a guard then he was trespassing, right?”

There is no mention of the other man facing trespassing or any other charges, and since he seemed confident enough to call in the police himself, he clearly felt his presence in the school restroom at that time was lawful.

The only remaining explanation I can think of is that this man is a part of an elite covert counter-school-theft unit. They dig deep to catch those who steal shoes and tennis rackets in the act, but their very existence must be kept secret to stay one step ahead of the criminals at all times.

That might seem like overkill, but those piano covers are expensive and can really add up.

Source: WTV News, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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