What is Winnie the Pooh up to these days? According to Japanese
police, it appears that our favorite winsome little bear is committing
assault and armed robbery.
Unlike most fairy tales, this one does not have a happy ending.
Tokyo police have arrested Masayuki Ishikawa, a 20 year-old man who
attacked and robbed two people because they had the nerve to stare at
his Winnie-the-Pooh costume.
At the time of his arrest, he was in the company of two costumed friends; one a panther and the other a mouse.
Apparently the threesome had donned the costumes because they ran
out of clean clothes, (which is, in all probability, worthy of another
news story all by itself).
Once upon a time, Ishikawa told the police, he was standing on a
street corner minding his own truculent business while wearing the
cuddly costume when two passersby had the nerve to stare at him and he
took offense. (A grown man in such an outfit is worthy of at least one
sideward glance, n’est ce pas?)
Police told reporters that “It’s uncommon to see people dressed up
like this, so the victims were watching them. Then the perpetrator came
up and said, ‘What are you staring at?’”
In true Winnie-the Unpooh-like fashion, Ishikawa and his two cohorts
beat up the two unfortunates and stole 160 dollars from them. | 
