U.S. soldiers arrested for committing crimes in Okinawa and Misawa


Soldiers stationed at U.S. bases in Okinawa and Aomori were caught one
after another in the acts of committing arson and theft. It is only a few
days after a U.S. soldier, the suspect of the June 29 rape, was arrested and
indicted.


Before dawn on July 21, in two separate incidents, two U.S. soldiers were
arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a car and damaging a motorbike in
Okinawa City, Okinawa Prefecture.


One soldier is attached to the U.S. Kadena Air Base. He set fire to a car
in a parking lot in a residential area about five kilometers from the base.
Then he ran away, but was chased by residents and was arrested by
prefectural policemen.


Akamine Seiken, Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member,
carried out an on-site investigation. This is the third time this year for
U.S. personnel to commit arson in Okinawa.


Another case involved by a soldier from the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air
Station, who pushed over a motorbike and was arrested by city policemen.


Also, before dawn on July 22, a service member from the U.S. Misawa Air
Base in Aomori Prefecture stole a car in the city. Being drunken, he drove
away in the car and was arrested by the police. (end)