The Fukuoka Prefectural Police headquarters in Hakata Ward, Fukuoka, is seen in this file photo from February 2019. (Mainichi/Michiko Morizono)

       FUKUOKA -- A 69-year-old man in this city was arrested Nov. 3 by prefectural police for the alleged violation of the Anti-Stalking Act after he left around 50 dead cockroaches in front of the dining establishment that a female acquaintance operates.

       Yasuhiko Taira reportedly told investigators that he had romantic feelings for the 37-year-old woman, but was upset that she had suddenly begun behaving coolly toward him.

       Taira stands accused of scattering about 50 cockroaches in front of the business the woman runs in the southwest Japan city of Fukuoka at around 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 30. Once the woman realized what the suspect had done, she warned him never to have anything to do with her again. But the next day, he allegedly called her on her cell phone five times in a span of a few minutes.

       According to Fukuoka Prefectural Police's Chuo Police Station, the two came to know each other about two years ago through fishing, after which Taira is said to have started to frequent the establishment the woman opened. He called the woman numerous times, and it was on the day she told him to stop that the dead cockroaches were scattered in front of the woman's business.

       (Japanese original by Ken Nakazato, Kyushu News Department)

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