Another US serviceman detained in Okinawa
Japan has arrested yet another American military personnel on charges of drunk driving in the Okinawa Prefecture.
Joren Ladd, a 22-year-old member of the US Air Force, was arrested on Saturday night after crashing into a car stopped at a signal in the coastal town of Chatan near the USAF Kadena Air Base, where he was based at.
The airman admitted to the crime after a police breathalyzer test revealed that his alcohol level was five times the legal limit.
This is the second time that an American serviceman is being taken into custody over drunk driving since the US military ended a mid-night curfew and an alcohol ban on its Okinawa bases.
The first incident occurred on July 4, when Naval Officer Aimee Mejia, 21, was arrested on similar charges. Mejia had been driving the wrong way down a street before her car hit an oncoming vehicle.
Public outrage against the heavy US military presence on Okinawa was intensified in May after a former US Marine and a base employee was arrested in connection with the death of a 20-year-old woman.
Police found the DNA matching the dead woman’s in a car belonging to Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a former US Marine who worked at Kadena Air Base.
The incident prompted apologies from US President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. They both had promised to prevent similar cases of abuse in future.
Tens of thousands of Japanese protesters recently gathered outside Camp Schwab Marine Corps Base in Okinawa prefecture to denounce the presence of US troops in their country.
Japanese locals complain about allegations of sexual abuse by the American soldiers, and are involved in a row with the Japanese government over the planned relocation of the US camp on the island. They are against the relocation, and want the camp totally removed.
Okinawa is home to 50,000 American forces. US forces were reportedly involved in more than 1,000 sex crimes in Japan between 2005 and 2013.
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