US Serviceman Breaks Into Home, Punches Teen: Japan

In yet another incident unlikely to endear the people of Okinawa to the US presence there, a drunken US serviceman broke into an apartment building on the island and punched a 13-year-old boy in the face in the wee hours this morning, Japanese authorities alleged today. Police say the man then fell out of a third-story window and had to be hospitalized. US ambassador John Roos was summoned to the foreign ministry over the incident, Reuters reports.

The incident comes despite a curfew for US troops imposed after the recent alleged gang-rape of a Japanese woman. "This happened when a night-time curfew was in place and it is extremely deplorable," Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said. "A supposedly impermissible thing has happened." Roos said the US was "very upset," and promised full cooperation with authorities. The US base in Okinawa has long been a sore spot for residents, thanks to troop misbehavior. (More Okinawa stories.)