Ryutaro Morimoto, currently the youngest member of Hey! Say! JUMP at 14 years old, recently had his mobile phone stolen. The suspect, a 17-year-old boy, was arrested on Wednesday by Kanagawa police. The boy has reportedly denied the charges.

The phone was stolen at around 11:45pm on Tuesday night. The boy, a fan of Morimoto, had followed him around on multiple occasions in the past. Last December, Morimoto's family consulted police about the problem.

On Tuesday at about 10:00pm, Morimoto went to a restaurant near his house, meeting the boy in person to ask him to stop his behavior. The boy then apparently threatened Morimoto by saying that he had a knife. When Morimoto attempted to call his family from outside the restaurant, the boy grabbed the phone and ran away. He was later found after police traced a call to another cell phone owned by Morimoto.

Morimoto's management has not yet issued an official statement on the matter.





credits: tokyograph