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YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — A sailor arrested at a Yokohama café on suspicion of indecent exposure will not be prosecuted, Japanese officials said Monday.

A spokeswoman for the Yokohama district prosecutor’s office declined to say why prosecution was being suspended for Petty Officer 3rd Class Oscar H. Wiygul III, 23, a sailor aboard the USS George Washington.

On Nov. 23, Kanagawa prefectural police told Stars and Stripes they arrested Wiygul at 3:24 a.m. after finding him naked at a manga cafe, a common type of cafe that offers Japanese animation, Internet access and drinks. Customers often sleep at the cafes overnight in recliners and computer chairs.

Police also said Wiygul admitted urinating in the café, and that he registered a 0.09 blood alcohol level.

Wiygul has been returned to military custody and the Navy is conducting its own investigation, a Navy spokesman said Monday.

Wiygul became the fourth servicemember at the time to be arrested in Japan since the U.S. military instituted an 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew following the alleged rape of an Okinawan woman by two U.S. sailors in October.

Soon after the arrest, the Navy ordered its sailors to stop drinking by 10 p.m., even inside their own homes. On Friday, U.S. Forces Japan barred servicemembers in Japan from going to bars alone.

Marines in Japan are not allowed to drink at off-base bars or leave their base if they register more than a 0.03 blood alcohol level, according to restrictions announced Monday.

Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.

slavine@pstripes.osd.mil

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