Navy curbs alcohol at Yokosuka after taxi death - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Navy curbs alcohol at Yokosuka after taxi death

YOKOSUKA, Japan — The Navy said Wednesday it has imposed limits on travel and alcohol consumption on personnel at its base near Tokyo following the killing of a Japanese taxi driver.

The limits would take effect immediately, said Cmdr. David Waterman, a Navy spokesman.

No alcohol will be sold due to “a period of heightened sensitivity” over the stabbing of Masaaki Takahashi, 61, last month in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo and home to the U.S. naval base, Waterman said.

Waterman denied the measures were taken in response to a U.S. sailor’s reported admission to Japanese police to the killing.

Japanese police went to the Yokosuka base Wednesday to question a 22-year-old crew member of the guided-missile cruiser Cowpens about the killing, Waterman said, but refused to confirm media reports that the sailor admitted to fatally stabbing the driver. The sailor has been in U.S. custody since he was apprehended on a desertion charge earlier this month in Tokyo.

Japanese authorities, who were reportedly preparing to obtain an arrest warrant for the sailor from a Japanese court, were expected to ask the Navy for his handover as early as Thursday.

The sailor’s name, age, nationality and other details have not been released for privacy reasons. Japanese media reports have said he is a Nigerian citizen serving in the U.S. Navy.

Navy investigators have also questioned him about the killing of the taxi driver because a credit card with his name was allegedly found in the victim’s car.

“As members of the Japanese community, we all feel the impact of the murder,” Waterman said. “As a member of the community, we really mourn over the tragic incident.”

Referring to limits on personnel, Rear Adm. James Kelly, commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Japan, said in a statement that “The goal of this action is to review plans and policies on violence prevention and to respectfully mourn the tragic loss of Mr. Takahashi.”

Elsewhere in Japan, the U.S. military in Okinawa said Wednesday that its curfew for uniformed service members has been shortened to midnight to 5 a.m., effective Friday, from the current 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The curfew was imposed after the alleged rape of a local junior high school girl in February. An all-day curfew was initially imposed Feb. 20 on all military service personnel, U.S. civilian workers and their families, but was eased March 3 to cover only service personnel and the period was shortened to 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

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