Man Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Taking Woman Hostage At Internet Cafe

A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for taking a woman hostage at an internet cafe in Saitama, Japan last year.

The accused, identified as Kazutaka Hayashi, an unemployed man, had reportedly claimed that the television in the room he rented wasn’t working and allegedly lured a female employee into the private room at an internet cafe in Omiya Ward, Japan at around 2:25 p.m. on June 17, 2021.

After luring the woman into the room, Hayashi took the woman hostage by threatening her with a utility knife. As Hayashi kept the woman hostage, another employee at the cafe called the police and alerted them about the situation.

When Hayashi was told to communicate with the officers, Hayashi spoke to the police through an intercom to stay away and threatened them saying that he would kill the woman and then himself if they interfered, Japan Today reported.

The standoff between the police and Hayashi lasted for 32 hours until midnight on June 18, 2021, when the officers finally managed to enter the private room after Hayashi reportedly fell asleep. The hostage was saved and was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. The hostage sustained injuries that required two weeks to heal after the ordeal.

Following the incident, the Saitama District Court handed down a 20-year prison sentence against Hayashi on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

In a similar but unrelated incident, a man was shot and arrested after he kidnapped a therapist and sexually abused her multiple times in Florida earlier this month, Latin Times reported.

Tzvi Allswang, a 20-year-old man from Palm Beach, Florida, was reportedly visited by a therapist to conduct a therapy session. However, when she tried to leave after their session, Allswang put her in a bear hug and told her that she was not allowed to leave.

He then took the therapist’s phone and duct-taped her hands, and proceeded to sexually assault and rape her throughout the night.

After receiving strange texts from her daughter, the victim’s mother called the authorities to ask them to do a welfare check on Allswang’s home. When the police arrived, they located Allswang holding the victim hostage with a knife to her throat inside the master closet. Allswang was shot in the head by a police officer after he refused to cooperate with the police in releasing the therapist.

The therapist was treated for injuries in her head and body. Meanwhile, Allswang survived the shooting and was arrested and charged with attempted murder, sexual battery, and kidnapping, among other charges.