US Air Force captain arrested in Japan's Okinawa for alleged drunk driving

Japanese police arrested a 27-year-old U.S. Air Force captain, identified by The Mainichi as Omena Mushale, on suspicion of drunk driving in Okinawa on Saturday. According to The Mainichi, Mushale, who is assigned to Kadena Air Base, was spotted by patrol officers driving out of a parking lot in an entertainment district. He was stopped after accelerating, and a test detected an alcohol concentration of less than 0.5 milligrams per liter of breath.

Mushale reportedly partially denied the allegation, telling police he thought it would be fine to drive because his home was nearby.

Gulf News reports the arrest occurred at approximately 3:09 a.m. Saturday in Okinawa City. It is currently unclear if the captain violated a recent curfew imposed by U.S. officials, which bans all service members from drinking alcohol outside their homes between midnight and 5 a.m.

The incident follows recent agreements between Tokyo and Washington to implement measures aimed at preventing crimes by U.S. service members on the island. Channel News Asia and Gulf News note these measures were established a week prior after a murder allegedly involving an American Marine triggered public outrage.

Brief written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia, Gulf News, The Mainichi — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.