Australian Man Arrested in Japan For Vandalizing Train Over a Year Ago

The suspect, identified as Paul Han, is believed to have trespassed into the Koishikawa Rail Yard at around 1 a.m. on February 19, 2018. Police reports indicated that he was with another person when he made the graffiti, but his accomplice has yet to be identified, according to NHK as translated by SoraNews24.

 

Han and the other culprit reportedly spent 90 minutes spray painting the large graffiti onto the sides of a Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line subway carriage. Police were able to identify Han through the security footage taken from the rail yard, unfortunately, they weren’t able to apprehend the man as he was only in the country as a tourist and left Japan a week after he painted the graffiti.

However, on April 3, Han returned to Japan. As he was about to enter the country via Narita Airport, he was immediately arrested and was taken to custody.

Authorities were successful in apprehending Han by securing the location data from the rental car he used, which had recorded trips to Kanagawa Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture, just northeast of Tokyo. Police are still trying to investigate whether Han is connected to all of the graffiti in the area, or if other foreign nationals were involved.

During his arrest, police found several items in his possession that may point to the crimes including spray cans, paint markers, bolt cutters, a head torch, binoculars, and half-a-dozen GoPro cameras. Authorities believe that Han could have been planning to do graffiti again in the country.

Despite the items in his possession, though, the man denies that he was responsible for the discovered graffiti last year. Han is now facing charges for property damage that could land him a maximum jail time of three years.

Featured images screenshot via YouTube / ANNnewsCH