Police have accused a Japanese firefighter of poisoning a colleague’s soup at Camp Zama, a U.S. Army base just outside Tokyo. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
TOKYO — Police say a Japanese firefighter poisoned a colleague’s soup with a chemical used as antifreeze several times last month at the home of U.S. Army Japan.
Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested Riichiro Ikoma, 34, at his home in Fujisawa city on Tuesday, a police spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday.
The case was referred to the Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office on Wednesday, the spokesman said. Some Japanese government officials must speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
Police allege Ikoma added liquid containing ethylene glycol to a 60-year-old coworker’s miso and cabbage soup four times between April 1 and 12, the spokesman said.
Both are firefighters at Camp Zama — home to about 2,500 U.S. soldiers and 2,100 civilian employees and their families just outside Tokyo — another police spokesman said by phone Thursday.
Ethylene glycol is used as antifreeze, in hydraulic brake fluid and as a solvent.
Short-term exposure to large quantities of ethylene glycol may cause nervous system, cardiopulmonary and renal damage, according to an Environmental Protection Agency fact sheet.
Japanese police learned of the incident after the unidentified coworker contacted U.S. military police, who consulted the local police on April 14, telling them that “a firefighter at Camp Zama might have been poisoned,” according to the second spokesman.
Ikoma was working on days when his coworker noticed an unusual taste in his soup and experienced symptoms, such as nausea and diarrhea, the second spokesman said.
The police investigation is continuing, the spokesman said.
U.S. Army Japan officials did not immediately respond to an email seeking further information Thursday.
