Soldier charged after fatal crash on Okinawa

[unhappycamper]

Soldier charged after fatal crash on Okinawa
By Eric Talmadge - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 7, 2010 7:31:45 EST

TOKYO — Japanese prosecutors charged a U.S. soldier Thursday in connection with a fatal hit-and-run accident on the southern island of Okinawa.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Okinawa’s local capital, Naha, said the soldier had been charged with negligence resulting in the Nov. 7 death of a 66-year-old man. The spokesman refused to give further details and spoke on condition of anonymity because of office regulations.

Maj. James Crawford, a spokesman for the U.S. Army in Japan, said the soldier, based at Torii Station on Okinawa, was handed over to Japanese custody. He identified the soldier as Clyde Gunn, a 27-year-old staff sergeant from Oxford, Miss.

“We are cooperating with the Japanese authorities,” Crawford said.

Japanese investigators say the soldier raised suspicions when he took his military-registered car, which had dents and blood stains, to a repair shop. Samples collected from the car matched those of the victim, police said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_army_okinawa_crash_charges_010710/