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NAHA, Okinawa — A U.S. Marine was arrested Friday for alleged trespassing after he was spotted on an Okinawa apartment balcony.

A woman who lived in the apartment in downtown Naha’s Kumoji district said she heard a noise and saw the 24-year-old corporal, assigned to Camp Hansen, peering through a window at about 4:24 a.m., according to a spokesman for Okinawa prefectural police.

The Marine fled, but police spotted him on the roof of the apartment next door about three hours later, the spokesman said, adding that the man smelled of alcohol at the time of the arrest.

He told police the apartment looked like one where he used to live, the spokesman said.

In the wake of an alleged gang rape of an Okinawa woman by two sailors in October, the U.S. military imposed an 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew for all servicemembers in Japan. But a spate of alcohol-related incidents has continued, particularly on Okinawa, where about 60 percent of the American forces in Japan are stationed.

On Tuesday, the commander of U.S. Forces Japan, Lt. Gen. Sam Angelella, said he was extending the curfew to 1 a.m. for New Year’s Eve, but only for servicemembers stationed in mainland Japan. The curfew remains 11 p.m. on Okinawa.

From staff reports

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