TOKYO, April 3, 2008
U.S. Sailor Arrested In Japan Murder Case
Seaman Charged In 61-Year-Old Driver's Death Near Base In Latest Incident To Anger Japanese
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U.S. sailor Olatunbosun Ugbogu, center, confessed to the murder of a Japanese cab driver, a spokesman for the Yokosuka police department said. (AP Photo/Kyodo)
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Olatunbosun Ugbogu, a 22-year-old Nigerian national serving in the U.S. Navy, was arrested on murder and robbery charges, a local police spokesman said.
He confessed to the murder and police plan to send him to prosecutors on Saturday for his indictment, the spokesman said.
Japanese officials reacted sharply to the arrest, which follows a furor over a series of criminal allegations against U.S. servicemen in Japan, where some 50,000 American troops are based.
The suspect, a crew member on the USS Cowpens, is accused of stabbing 61-year-old taxi driver Masaaki Takahashi on March 19 in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo and the site of a large U.S. naval base. Police also accuse him of failing to pay the 19,560 yen (US$190) taxi fare.
The police spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of departmental rules, said the driver was stabbed in the shoulder with a kitchen knife, causing him to die from blood loss.
The suspect had been in U.S. custody since Navy authorities apprehended him in Tokyo on March 22 on an earlier desertion charge. He was handed over to Japanese authorities just before the arrest under a bilateral security pact, Japanese Foreign Ministry official Takashi Ariyoshi said.
Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura summoned U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer on Thursday, expressing regret over the crime and urging U.S. officials to improve discipline of American servicemen and step up anti-crime measures.
Schieffer also met with Yokosuka Mayor Ryoichi Kabaya, who said he was "enraged" over the alleged crime by a U.S. sailor. "We demand the U.S. take concrete measures so that crimes like this are never repeated," he said.
U.S. Navy and Japanese authorities had questioned the sailor about the killing because a credit card in his name was allegedly found in the victim's car.
Japanese anger over the U.S. military presence has grown in recent months following an alleged rape in February of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine on the southern island of Okinawa, which sparked large protests there. Japanese prosecutors dropped charges against the Marine and released him after the girl withdrew her complaint, but the U.S. military is continuing its own investigation.
Other alcohol-related incidents have inflamed sentiment.
Earlier in Yokosuka, a Japanese court convicted a U.S. sailor of robbing and fatally beating a 56-year-old Japanese woman in 2006 and sentenced him to life in prison.
In an apparent move to quell the rising anger, the U.S. Navy imposed limits Wednesday on travel and alcohol consumption by personnel at the Yokosuka base.
The limits started immediately and were to last at least through Monday when they will be reviewed, said Cmdr. David Waterman, a Navy spokesman.
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You have never served and you just made one of the dumbest statements i have ever heard. You insult everyone who has ever worn a uniform. Sure we have some members commit crimes, but statistically it is very few, i would say a lot less than in the civilian world. You sit there making judgements against people who fight so that you have that right. You are an idiot and a disgrace if your an American.
If you had studied history, we are there because we fought a war with Japan. In the peace agreement they disbanded their military, in return we agreed to rpovide security for their country. It is als a political area where having our presense makes it easier to delpoy if necessary to other parts of southeast Asia. That is also why we maintained bases in the Philippines for strategic location.
Posted by brianbwb
Exactly - why are we still there anyway??
I would posit that maintaining an expensive US military presence in any country where it is clearly not wanted by the citizens of that country, and where the country is no threat to the US, is what is naive and careless.
Every time it happens that US soldiers commit crimes against the local population, be it Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, or Japan, out come the apologists crying about "a few bad apples", there are so many incidents that they could more accurately allegorize it as "a few bad orchards"...
"American soldiers abroad should not be allowed off of their bases because they always do this kind of stuff. I know America is really easy on crime. They even reward criminals with lots of money and make movies to honor their deeds."
Have you served in the military? Do you know what it%u2019s like to put yourself in harms way to defend the freedoms you are not allowed to fully enjoy? Tell me what you consider %u201Calways do this kind of stuff.%u201D? By saying that all of the service members should not be allowed off of the base is like saying %u201Cto prevent crime in the US we are not going to let you off of your block or out of your apartment building and we are going to give you a curfew of 10pm and not allow you to consume alcohol.%u201D I%u2019m not real sure but I just don%u2019t think that would go over too well.
I live here in Japan off of base with great relations with my Japanese neighbors. My children attend Japanese school. Just being here strengthens the relationship America has with Japan. And yes it sucks when idiots like this screw up what the majority of us are trying to accomplish. But to generalize this tragic event by saying it happens all the time is naove and careless.
If you had any intelligence whatsoever, mjvw2, you''d understand that both the democratic and the republican parties have morphed and changed throughout the years. Lincoln was a "republican", but he would utterly oppose the neocon agenda to rule the world through military force. When GW Bush was anointed "prezdent", he promised to "be a uniter, not a divider", he was firmly opposed to "nation building", and he vowed to "clean up government corruption". But, just a few years later, we see he has reneged on all his promises.
So, I guess your only real point is that you like to slur the other party by calling them "dumbocrats". How childish!
He also authorized the use of the atomic bombs on Japan.
By the way...he was a member of the dumbocratic party.
NOT A CITIZEN, CANNOT SERVE I SAY." - Posted by the_snitch
Well, it''s actually been a US policy for many years... serve in the military and then you get to be a citizen. If you don''t like, perhaps you should LEAVE the USA.
"Serving in the US Military by foreign nationals is akin to illegals having an "anchor baby" to avoid deportation. It has nothing to do with love for the USA or the Flag. Deport them all." -- Pronto9
Do you think all the babies born in the USA "decided" to be born here because of their "love for the USA or the Flag"? I don''t think so! People who join the US military and risk life and limb for years to gain citizenship undoubtedly love the country more that the average newborn. Why do you object so much?
This uber-nationalistic and xenophobic strain of the repuglican party is nothing more than vestigal animalism!
NOT A CITIZEN, CANNOT SERVE I SAY.
Posted by the_snitch
Are you serving in the military?
Now really...stabbing the man is one thing, but not paying for the taxi fare, well that''s just wrong.
He also authorized the use of the atomic bombs on Japan.
By the way...he was a member of the dumbocratic party.
- by ranger1948 April 3, 2008 12:13 PM EDT
- If they are guilty then i am glad they wiull be prosecuted for these crimes. If they were in the states they would also be prosecuted. We must uphold the standards that the American people have extablished and expect , especially when in another country.
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