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Japanese police arrest Marines after separate incidents in Okinawa nightlife district

OKINAWA, Apr 05 (stripes.com) - Japanese police jailed two Marines on Okinawa in separate incidents over the weekend at a popular nightlife district outside Kadena Air Base.

Okinawa police arrested Lance Cpl. Alfredo Francesco Rubinstein, 21, of Camp Schwab, at 2:22 a.m. Saturday after he allegedly grabbed a restaurant employee, age 58, by the neck and lacerated the man’s forehead, a police spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

A day later, Pfc. Adrian Jesus Martinez, 20, of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was detained after a woman said he grabbed her and threw her down, bruising her leg, the spokesman said.

Both Marines were held on suspicion of causing bodily injury, according to the spokesman. He said breath tests on both men measured their blood alcohol content at 0.12%, four times the legal driving limit in Japan. The men denied the allegations against them. ...continue reading

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A fire that broke out in Kagamino, Okayama Prefecture, shortly after noon on May 20th destroyed three buildings, including a home, after flames from open burning spread to dead leaves and then to nearby structures.

Six people, including a senior member of a group affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate's Kohei-ikka faction, have been arrested on suspicion of opening a gang office in a prohibited area near a nursery school in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward.

A man who visited a police station in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in the early hours of May 21st allegedly sprayed a transparent liquid inside the building, causing six police officers to complain of eye and throat pain and be taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department held a review ceremony for its riot police units at Meiji Jingu Gaien in Tokyo on May 20th, with around 1,700 officers marching in formation as part of a large-scale demonstration of security preparedness.

A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

Two women were found dead with stab wounds at a house in Tatsuno, Hyogo Prefecture, on May 19th, with police suspecting they were victims of a violent crime.

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A man in his 30s was referred to prosecutors after allegedly feeding a chocolate snack to a marmot at an animal cafe in Osaka Prefecture, despite the risk that the treat could cause poisoning or even death in the squirrel-family animal.