SEOUL — A Camp Casey soldier remains in a South Korean jail charged with robbery and attempted rape after allegedly breaking into the home of an elderly Korean couple Saturday morning, according to Dongducheon police.

The 20-year-old soldier — whose name and rank have not been released — entered the home around 9 a.m. Saturday and allegedly beat the 70-year-old husband and his 64-year-old wife with a piece of lumber before attempting to rape the woman, according to a police spokesman who declined to be identified.

The couple remained in the intensive care unit of a local hospital on Monday with injuries sustained in the beating, police said. The police spokesman said the soldier, who has been in the military less than a year, is being held in a facility in Yangju.

Police arrested the soldier a few hours after the incident based on the couple’s description and bloodstains on the soldier’s shoes and socks, police said. The soldier denied his involvement in the attack, but later confessed after police told him they had found his wallet and identification card inside the couple’s house, located about 150 yards from Camp Casey, according to the spokesman.

Police said the soldier, who has been in stationed in South Korea for about three months, was drunk at the time of the attack.

2nd Infantry Division officials did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment. However, 2nd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Michael Tucker said in a statement released Monday that senior leaders had visited the family, and 2ID would continue working closely with South Korean police as they investigate the incident. “We deeply regret this deplorable incident and offer the family and the Korean people our most heartfelt sympathy,” the statement said. “This behavior is absolutely not in keeping with the high standards we expect of our Soldiers.”

chang.yookyong@pstripes.osd.mil

rowlanda@pstripes.osd.mil

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