2 U.S. Marines in Okinawa arrested over drunken driving, obstruction

Sunday 14th March, 11:01 PM JST

NAHA —

Two U.S. Marines were arrested Sunday in Okinawa, one on suspicion of drunken driving and another for allegedly obstructing official police duties, police officials said. Both men, from the U.S. Marines’ Makiminato Service Area in Urasoe, denied the allegations, they said.

Lance Cpl Jamel Gary, 23, is suspected of drunken driving in Naha shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday, while Pvt Christopher Brooks, 24, in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, allegedly obstructed a police officer’s attempt to conduct an alcohol test on Gary by throwing himself at the officer, according to them.

Police eventually detected 0.75 milligram of alcohol in 1 liter of Gary’s breath, five times the permissible level, but he denied drinking, they said.

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Latest 15 of 84 Total Comments Show All

Kwaabish at 12:04 PM JST - 17th March

Now there's another possible US military vehicle involved in a hit-and-run in Nago where the driver ditched the vehicle?

Nago's mayor is pissed....

What is going on lately?
palisadez54 at 05:18 PM JST - 17th March

makes1

For every one civilian offense, there are a dozen military offenses

Got the statistics on that?

and close the bases.

Contact General Rice, USFJ Commander, he'd love to hear from you.
elbudamexicano at 07:19 PM JST - 17th March

New policy, drink and drive send your Marine butt off to Iraq! No decent Marines should be punished for the idiots who ruin it for the rest of the hard working men and women stationed down there in Oki.
zurcronium at 10:48 PM JST - 17th March

Fact is that these type of guys are the majority in the US military today which is why these stories are an everyday occurrence. Even with a down economy in the US the incoming recruits are most likely criminals, drug users and/or misfits. Who would take a chance of being sent to Iraq if they had some other option in their lives. No one.
vulcan at 02:28 PM JST - 18th March

Military hates airing their dirty laundry.. and makes sure the locals don't know about crime on base where app 90% of SOFA members are at any giving time. Any comparison between SOFA personel crime and local Japanese crime only includes the small portion of SOFA crime committed outside the gates... about 10,000 people compared to a local populaton of 1,300,000 people.
Nessie at 02:38 PM JST - 18th March

Book 'em, Taro!
the_sicilian at 08:06 PM JST - 18th March

Vulcan: you really have a distaste for the military. What have they done to you? There are no apologetic ones here. Just simple facts. Given the proportion of people, they commit far less crime than the locals.

These two should face the same penalty as an Okinawan....Wait, that's almost no penalty. So they will pay a $5000 fine and get some probation from jail. Then the military will take what little rank they have, take their pay, then send them to jail or kick them out. Double jeopardy if you ask me.
vulcan at 12:01 AM JST - 19th March

I have no distaste for the US military at all, where in my post does it look like their is distates. I stated a statistical possibility for those who blatantly post that the US military commits less crime than locals.

If you would like to look at it another way, let me state that locals work on military bases and commit less crime on the military bases than military members do. How do you reply to that?
the_sicilian at 07:44 PM JST - 19th March

Military hates airing their dirty laundry.. and makes sure the locals don't know about crime on base where app 90% of SOFA members are at any giving time.

So you know for a fact that this is true? You work in a base legal office and see the MP "blotter" or reports as they come in? Yeah, no bias or "distaste" on your part.

And a a portion of the population, the locals on base commit less crime than the military does. Do you feel better? the overall comparison is people in the prefecture, period. And Japan loves to point out their xenophobia, and always make examples of foreigners that commit crime. In the case of these two, they should be an example, and be sent to jail.
vulcan at 08:02 PM JST - 19th March

So you know for a fact that this is true? You work in a base legal office and see the MP "blotter" or reports as they come in? Yeah, no bias or "distaste" on your part.

I could say this about any organization.. and most people, they don't like airing their dirty laundry.. not hard to imagine this, so how is it distasteful?

It is a fact that crimes on base are contained on base and the military is not subject by the SOFA to disclose them to the off base authorities with the exception of Rape, Murder, Kidnapping and Drug related crimes. So, any other crime is unknown to the locals for "inclusion" on crime rate statistics (if that's what the issue is).

Don't know about now (but could guess from the stories I hear from some security police friends) but from 1945-1972 all kinds of coverups, hand slaps and abuses occured in Okinawa. Commit a crime off base, run on base and you were home free in most cases unless you murdered someone and it was known about. Why do you think it is such a sensitive issue when military aren't released to the Japanese authorities for questioning.. remember the 1995 rape of the 12 yr old Okinawan girl by the three black military members? History starts for you when you got off the plane, you need to research things from 1945.. and you'll find that these abberations aren't isolated but a string of "abberations" going on for decades.
vulcan at 08:05 PM JST - 19th March

Some people have tunnel vision..very sensitive to any military crime commited. There is plenty of crime in the crime section of this paper concerning Japanese. As far as the Stars and Stripes, why would an english paper concern itself with local crime unless it concerns english readers.. ie, when it involves a SOFA member? You're beef is with the Stars and Stripes, not the Japanese.
YuriOtani at 02:40 AM JST - 20th March

It is sad how a few soldiers/sailors can make things so difficult for the group. The group does a lot more good than bad but it is overlooked. Then again it is the nature of the world where one "oh crud" can undo a hundred "well done". The US military needs to work harder with the Japanese police to overcome the distrust that exists among the Okinawa people. That these innocents are given a fair and proper investigation and no evidence is covered up by the military authorities.
vulcan at 03:31 AM JST - 20th March

I don't see how this Navy female is making it difficult for the group. No additional curfew or offlimits yet.

In the past, when Sgt Hadnott (38 yrs old) was accused of "molesting" that Okinawan 14 yr old, the General made downtown, off limits for three weeks.. I guess this was hard on the "group" but his real purpose was to try to screw local businesses and Okinawans for complaining about the conduct of his marines.. It wasn't hard to figure, because when military members started to order food from offbase establishments that decided to offer delivery to the base gate, the position was that it went against the sprit or intent of the off limits and period of reflection.

Most figured this was an attempt to "shut up" the local community by denying them business and the message was.. "don't complain or you'll loose money"..
the_sicilian at 09:45 AM JST - 21st March

And it worked, Vulcan. Okinawa City was screaming because of that.
vulcan at 06:44 PM JST - 21st March

I didn't notice it.. maybe on Gate 2 street sector of Okinawa city, where a lot of Americans own bars (ex military)and Indian tailors.. but Okinawans own very little on that street. Coco curry house lost some business but after about a week a lot of Okinawans started to filter into that place, I guess the scenery got better. But, at least we agree on something.. If the military can't control its own troops, it will try to control the local citizens into keeping quiet through fear (of loosing business)..