8 Tons of Cocaine Seized : Ex-Sumo Wrestler Claims Hunger Made Him a Purse Snatcher

TOKYO — A retired sumo wrestler, known for his insatiable appetite, was arrested for grabbing a handbag from an elderly woman in downtown Tokyo because he needed money for food, police said Saturday.

Tomohisa Fujino, 22, was arrested after he snatched a handbag containing 6,000 yen ($60) from the 73-year-old woman.

Fujino, fighting under the ring name Hoshiryuma, climbed to the third-highest division in the sport but retired in 1990 because of back injury.

“I eat twice as much as the average person, and I couldn’t keep it up,” police quoted him as saying.

Fujino, who weighs more than 220 pounds, had been trying to make ends meet by doing odd jobs.