thedrifter
02-06-06, 12:48 PM
February 06, 2006
Japan to prosecute two in robbery case
Associated Press
TOKYO — Japanese police said Monday that a robbery case allegedly involving two U.S. servicemen has been referred to prosecutors.
The men are suspected of threatening an on-duty taxi driver with a knife, and robbing him of about $42 on Jan. 7 inside the U.S. Forces’ Camp Foster in Okinawa, according to local police official Tetsuya Shimajiri.
The two, aged 20 and 21, were apprehended by U.S. investigators for the incident last month, and were questioned by local police with U.S. cooperation, Shimajiri said.
The Marine Corps has said it will hand the suspects to the Japanese if prosecutors indict them, Shimajiri said.
The Marine Corps could not be reached late Monday to confirm.
The case is the latest in a string of alleged crimes involving U.S. servicemen in Japan. Last month, prosecutors indicted a 23-year-old sailor in connection with the death of a Japanese woman near Tokyo on Jan. 3.
Also in January, police referred to prosecutors the case of another U.S. sailor suspected of hitting three boys with her vehicle in Tokyo and fleeing the scene.
Washington has about 50,000 troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security agreement. But opposition to the American presence runs high, with residents protesting the crime, noise and safety hazards associated with the bases.
Earlier this year, the U.S. and Japan agreed to move 7,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, and shift within Japan some of the remaining American troops.
Japan to prosecute two in robbery case
Associated Press
TOKYO — Japanese police said Monday that a robbery case allegedly involving two U.S. servicemen has been referred to prosecutors.
The men are suspected of threatening an on-duty taxi driver with a knife, and robbing him of about $42 on Jan. 7 inside the U.S. Forces’ Camp Foster in Okinawa, according to local police official Tetsuya Shimajiri.
The two, aged 20 and 21, were apprehended by U.S. investigators for the incident last month, and were questioned by local police with U.S. cooperation, Shimajiri said.
The Marine Corps has said it will hand the suspects to the Japanese if prosecutors indict them, Shimajiri said.
The Marine Corps could not be reached late Monday to confirm.
The case is the latest in a string of alleged crimes involving U.S. servicemen in Japan. Last month, prosecutors indicted a 23-year-old sailor in connection with the death of a Japanese woman near Tokyo on Jan. 3.
Also in January, police referred to prosecutors the case of another U.S. sailor suspected of hitting three boys with her vehicle in Tokyo and fleeing the scene.
Washington has about 50,000 troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security agreement. But opposition to the American presence runs high, with residents protesting the crime, noise and safety hazards associated with the bases.
Earlier this year, the U.S. and Japan agreed to move 7,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, and shift within Japan some of the remaining American troops.