The continued presence of the United States military is a contentious issue in Japan, and sentiments sour when military personnel are caught behaving badly.
Unfortunately, that appears to be the case once again as TV Asahi is reporting a Marine stationed at Iwakuni stole and crashed a new Honda Civic Type R.
According to the station, the owner recently purchased the vehicle for ¥5.4 million ($39,503) and took it to a dealership for maintenance. The rest of the incident was caught on security video as you can see the Marine walk around the dealership with his arms tucked into his shirt.
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He then walks up to the car, before taking a seat on a chair outside the dealership. The man eventually breaks a glass door, enters the dealership, and walks out with the keys to the car. He then gets into the Civic Type R and drives away.
While the footage ends there, the station says the man “collided with another car” near the Iwakuni Air Base. He then reportedly fled the scene, but a police investigation revealed his identity. However, authorities weren’t immediately able to take him into custody due to the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement.
That seems to have changed as Stars and Stripes cited a press release from the city saying the man was in custody. The publication also talked to base spokesman Maj. Gerard Farao, who said “Our service members are expected to show respect to the community that we call home. We take all allegations seriously and hold all service members to a high standard of professionalism.”
What happens next remains to be seen, but footage taken after the crash shows the car has front end damage. In particular, the front bumper and fender have been destroyed and it appears the intercooler has been damaged as well.
H/T to The Drive
