U.S. sailor arrested in stabbing
Police arrested a U.S. sailor today in the stabbing death of a taxi driver near an American naval base outside Tokyo, officials said. It’s the latest in a series of cases that have set off a furor about crimes allegedly committed by U.S. servicemen.
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.
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 $190 taxi fare.
