The Sailor who was wanted as a person of interest in the slaying of a Japanese taxi driver, in Yokosuka on March 20th, is now in US Military custody after being arrested in Tokyo. The Sailor had been on an unauthorized absence (UA) (the Navy equivalent to AWOL) for nearly a month, and was already being looked for by US officials before the murder ever took place.
From the Mainichi Daily News:
The 22-year-old sailor, who had been stationed at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, was taken into custody in Tokyo by U.S. military authorities on Saturday.
The sailor’s credit card was found in a taxi belonging to a 61-year-old Masaaki Takahashi, who was found stabbed to death in his vehicle on Wednesday night.
Yokosuka Municipal Government’s Base Task Force said it received a message from the U.S. military at about 4 a.m. Saturday to say the sailor wanted in connection with Takahashi’s death had been taken into custody. U.S. military officials are currently questioning the sailor.
The sailor had been a crewmember on the AEGIS destroyer USS Cowpens, which left Yokosuka on March 17. The sailor, however, had been missing for at least some weeks before the ship left port and was being sought by U.S. military police for being absent without leave (AWOL).
The local reaction so far has been minimal. Leaving the base today, I saw about 5 or 6 members of the Japanese media outside the gate with cameras and apparently waiting to talk to some passers-by. Unfortunately for them, almost every person on base was told to only respond with “no comment.” 100% gate inspections are still going on, but from what I’ve been told, no murderers have been found in any bags as of yet.
On another note, a good friend of mine told me the following story of him trying to get a taxi on Blue Street. He was leaving an Internet cafe, when he saw a taxi parked near the curb. Being lazy, he decided to get a ride home instead of walking. As he walked towards the cab’s rear door, instead of it flying open, the taxi started to slowly creep away. He walked a little faster, with the taxi continuing to creep away. Finally, he ran after it and flagged it down. He was next to the driver-side door, when the driver rolled the window down about an inch and asked him what ship he was on. He gave his ship’s name, at which point the door flung open. During the ride home, the taxi driver was pretty talkative about the incident and how he has to be careful.
Comments 2
On Sunday I got stopped by some old fart Japanese guy hawking anti-American literature near Shiori Train Station. I felt like telling him to go protest the Nanking Massacre, but I didn’t want to make a scene. They do this anti-American protest b.s. every weekend and I’m sick of it.
Posted 21 Mar 2008 at 11:01 pm ¶From what I read I think the sailor should have just taken the train from where he was to here, it would have been a lot cheaper! 620 yen (if in shinagawa) at the most vs. 17,000 yen…I guess common sense isn’t so common anymore.
The most I payed for a taxi was from Yokohama to Yokosuka and it was 14,000 yen. It was New Years Day and apparently the trains didn’t run to yokosuka after a certain time…so me and a buddy split the fare. Later I was told there was a way to get back, but I was cold, tired and wasted and didn’t feel like trying to figure it out. Needless to say I think there should be a more stringent screening process…
Posted 23 Mar 2008 at 4:13 pm ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
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