Japan Press Weekly

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2021 December 22 - 2022 January 4 [US FORCES]

Drunken US servicemen arrested in Okinawa and in Yokosuka

The Okinawa Police on December 21 arrested a U.S. Marine belonging to USMC Camp Hansen in the prefecture for drunken driving.

According to the police, the 25-year-old lance corporal drove a car on a road in Okinawa’s Chatan Town under the influence of alcohol at around 11:45 p.m. on December 20.

The arrest took place when the Japanese and Okinawa Prefectural governments urged the U.S. military to prohibit people at Camp Hanse from going outside the base following the eruption of a cluster of COVID-19 infections at the base. The number of new cases at Camp Hansen reached 200 as of December 21.

On the previous day in Yokosuka City in Kanagawa Prefecture, a drunken U.S. serviceman stationed at the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base was arrested at the scene of a trespassing incident. At 7 a.m. on this day, a public elementary school teacher found the 36-year-old Navy man, who was obviously inebriated, inside the school building and called the police.

Later on the same day, the city government requested the Yokosuka base to exercise thorough military discipline and education to prevent a recurrence.