A motorbike thief in Japan has been arrested after Internet sleuths discovered their social media posts bragging about the stolen wheels online, according to the South China Morning Post.
The thief, who is also a cosplayer, posted pics of the classic race bike, a Suzuki TL1000R, on a social media platform on Dec 31.
This followed a Dec 30 post by the actual owner’s wife, @chanmn__12, stating her husband’s bike had been stolen that day from Shinshiro city in Aichi prefecture, where it had been parked the night before.
The bike, which has been discontinued, reportedly cost around 1.1mil yen (RM28,590) on the second-hand market.
The owner, @nyankoya85, also posted the bike’s description and registration plate number online, asking for the public’s help locating it.
The post garnered more than 14 million views and 1,400 reposts.
Eagle-eyed netizens then spotted the cosplayer @SakuraVictoria_’s New Year’s Eve photos of the same bike, finding it suspicious that the photos showed it being loaded into a van.
They were also stunned to discover that the “woman” cosplayer-thief turned out to be a 39-year-old man.
The SCMP report further stated that a 39-year-old man had turned himself in to the authorities on Jan 1, 2025 and confessed to stealing the motorcycle, apologising to the victim.
The cosplayer has since deleted the post.
