Thief reaches for wallet, sticks hand in bed pan

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Man held for stealing from patients

HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) A man being held on suspicion of stealing money or cash cards from hospital patients has been served another arrest warrant, police said Sunday.

Shunji Shinkawa, 55, an unemployed man from Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, allegedly pretended to be visiting friends in the hospital on Jan. 22, 2002, and stole cash and cash cards from three patients' wallets. He used the cards to withdraw money from banks, police said. The theft involved a total of 3.8 million yen, they said.

Shinkawa was arrested in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, in October on suspicion of stealing a billfold from a male patient in a hospital. Since then, he has been indicted on nine charges of theft.

Investigators suspect Shinkawa stole tens of millions of yen from patients in hospitals across Japan in a spree that spanned 500 different cases since 2001, police sources said.

Shinkawa allegedly told investigators that he usually targeted big hospitals crowded with visitors where he could easily blend in.