Four American Army children charged with attempted murder in Tokyo
Four U.S army children at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo charged with attempted murder.
Four teenagers of U.S. army personnel stationed at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo are to be arrested by Japanese police on charges of attempted murder, the Japanese media reported on Nov. 25th.
The case involves an incident in which a 23 year old Japanese woman, returning home from work on her moped, suffered a fractured skull after she ran into a rope that had been strung across the road about three feet off the ground. The incident happened in Masashimurayama City less than a mile from Yokota Air Base at around 11:30pm on August 13th. The woman was traveling at a speed of approximately 18-25mph at the time, according to Seikei News.
An officer in a patrol car that had passed along the street around ten to twenty minutes prior to the incident reported that the rope had not been there, leading to the indication that placement was intentionally done in that short time period. The rope had been strung between a small pole on one side of the road and an electrical pole on the other.
The victim stated to police that she had seen several foreigners immediately prior to hitting the rope, according to 47news.jp. That testimony, combined with imagery from nearby surveillance cameras and information provided by people in the vicinity at the time, lead police to the group of four U.S. teenagers, made up of three boys and one girl between the ages of 15 and 18.
Due to two of the teenagers living on base, the police have asked for help from U.S. military police in transferring custody of the accused in accordance with agreements between Japan and the U.S concerning service members and their families accused of criminal activities. Once in Japanese police custody, the teenagers will be tried according to Japanese law.
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