Chiba prefectural police arrested a 24-year-old unemployed Tokyo man on suspicion of robbery resulting in injury, accusing him of directing three accomplices in a February home robbery in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, in which a safe was stolen.
The suspect, Kaishi Oikawa, has remained silent, according to police. Investigators believe he was the on-site commander and that someone above him was also giving orders.
Police allege Oikawa conspired with the three accomplices to enter a house in Onarai, Noda, in the early hours of February 25. The intruders struck a male resident, then 88, several times on the head with what appeared to be a crowbar, police said.
They took a safe containing 200 yen in cash and the resident's registered seal, among other items.
Instructions sent by app
Oikawa traveled to the area near the house with the three men, police believe. He is suspected of sending instructions through an app that offers a high degree of anonymity.
The arrest points to a command structure above the men who carried out the break-in, with instructions passed down remotely to the scene.