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thedrifter
01-28-06, 02:22 PM
Two in custody in connection with Camp Foster cab robbery
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, January 29, 2006

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Two servicemembers are being held by military police in connection with the Jan. 7 assault and robbery of an Okinawa cab driver here.

Marine officials late Friday announced that law enforcement personnel from the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service and the Marine Provost Marshal’s Office on Okinawa apprehended two servicemembers in connection with the robbery, which took place about 1 a.m. outside barracks 217 on Camp Foster.

However, few further details were available, according to a Marine public affairs spokesman. Not released was the suspects’ identity, ranks or whether they were Marines or members of another armed service.

Also not immediately known was where they were being held.

A brief news release said NCIS and Okinawa police from Ginowan “worked aggressively for the past three weeks to identify perpetrators in the case, interviewing more than 350 people and reviewing hours of videotape.”

“The Marine Corps will not tolerate crimes committed by its service members and regrets the anxiety that this incident has caused the citizens of Okinawa,” the news release stated.

NCIS had offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever was responsible for the incident. Unclear Friday was whether that reward offer played a role in the two servicemembers’ apprehension.

Okinawa police from the Ginowan station and prefectural police headquarters said they had no information Friday night about the identification of the servicemembers.

The 61-year-old cab driver told police he was responding to a call for a taxi at 12:50 a.m. While he was waiting for his fare to come out of the barracks building, a dark-skinned man about 5 foot 7, wearing dark pants and a dark hooded sweat shirt, walked up to the driver’s door and motioned for the cabbie to exit.

As soon as the driver opened the door, the man took out a knife and demanded the cabbie’s money.

The cabbie gave him a box containing about 5,000 yen ($44) and $5 in U.S. currency. The robber then walked toward the rear of the building, according to the police report. The driver was unharmed, police said.

Ellie