It came as Okinawans voted Sunday in elections for the local legislature, showing overwhelming support for incumbent governor Takeshi Onaga who wants a key USA base in a crowded city removed from the island.
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According to a breath test, Mejia’s blood alcohol reading was six times the legal limit, the police said.
The Okinawa Times reported last month that 5,862 American military personnel and civilian employees have been arrested between 1972 and 2014, 737 of them for serious crimes including murder, rape, burglary and arson.
The U.S. military said it was cooperating fully with the Japanese investigation.
Governor Takeshi Onaga, who had won the 2014 gubernatorial election with a pledge to oppose the relocation of the Futenma Air Station, told reporters Monday that the results from Sunday’s polls were “a big victory” showing that his stance had “won support”. Mejia was not hurt, but two people in the other cars were injured, one in the arm and the other in the chest, he said.
The drunk-driving arrest came amid already heightened tensions over the USA military presence in Okinawa following the arrest last month of a civilian worker at the Kadena base in connection with the death of a 20-year-old local woman.
Shimabukuro’s body was found in a forest last month, near where Shinzato told police they would find her, according to local news reports.
“For decades, we have enjoyed a strong relationship with the people of Japan”, Matthew Carter, the naval commander in Japan, said in the release.
The latest murder and previous attacks have led to strong vilification from the people of Okinawa towards the United States, and saw some 4,000 people rally against having to forcibly host the US bases recently, with local officials, including Onaga, stating that the rising trend of crime by USA base-linked personnel against locals is directly attributable to the disproportionately high base-hosting obligations of the tiny prefecture.
Police say alcohol was involved, despite a ban on drinking off base in Okinawa that took effect just a week earlier. The U.S. Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Anti-U.S. military protesters hold signs outside Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan, on May 20.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani called the latest incident involving Mejia “extremely regrettable”, and has written to the Okinawa Defense Bureau with instructions to lodge a formal complaint with the Navy.
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Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida lodged a protest with Kennedy, calling on United States officials to take more stringent action to control their personnel.
