Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe SHIZUOKA, Japan, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- An assistant police inspector who meant to rob a pharmacy but set himself on fire instead has been arrested, Japanese police said Saturday. Hitoshi Kodama was arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery in the fiery incident, which occurred in July 2001. He has denied the allegations. Advertisement Kodama forced his way into a pharmacy in Ryuyo, Shizuoka Prefecture, using a knife to threaten a female worker, investigators told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. Once inside, police allege he splashed gasoline from an aluminum can over the store's manager and produced a lighter. But when he clicked the lighter his own clothes caught fire and he fled empty-handed, police said. Kodama went to a hospital in Shizuoka with burns to both his arms, but he was not considered a suspect because police focused their search in another area. At work, Kodama reportedly told fellow officers he burned himself dropping a tempura frying pan. Officials have apologized for the alleged robbery attempt, saying it was extremely regrettable and unbecoming for an officer.
