NAHA, Japan — The U.S. military in Okinawa Prefecture has
detained a U.S. Army sergeant it strongly suspects of involvement in a fatal
hit-and-run incident in Yomitanson in the prefecture.
The Okinawa prefectural police had previously seized a
vehicle owned by the sergeant first class in his 20s, who is based at Torii
Communication Station in the village.
The police also have searched the sergeant’s apartment in
the village outside the base on suspicion that he may have violated the Road
Traffic Law and that his negligent driving resulted in the death of 66-year-old
Masakazu Hokama. The police plan to seek the assistance of the U.S. military in
their investigation, and hope to directly question the sergeant on a voluntary
basis.
The sergeant took his vehicle to a repair shop in Kadenacho,
about five kilometers from the scene of the incident, on Saturday to have a
smashed windshield fixed.
Police seized the vehicle after human hair was found on the
windshield.
The U.S. military started questioning the sergeant about the
incident on a voluntary basis at the base in Yomitanson on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, the military began searching the
communication station where the sergeant was stationed.
According to the prefectural police, Hokama’s body, his head
bloodied, was found Saturday evening in a thicket on the side of the road.
He was found to have died from a broken neck and had several
other broken bones.
Col. James Woodard of the U.S. military visited Yomitanson
Mayor Keizo Yasuda at the village office Tuesday morning.
Woodard told the mayor that the U.S. military had detained
the soldier who had driven the seized vehicle and would do its utmost to
cooperate should Japanese authorities make a formal request to hand him over
prior to indictment.
Yasuda responded by saying, “We strongly demand you
turn him over soon.”
Under the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, when the
U.S. military detains a person suspected of a crime such as murder or sexual
assault, it must sympathetically consider a request from the Japanese
authorities to hand the suspect over before charges are pressed.
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
