Japanese police say a Navy contractor punched a 62-year-old man’s face several times on Sunday, July 16, 2023, in the Habu area of Innoshima in Hiroshima prefecture. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
A U.S. contractor working on a Navy ship was jailed in Japan on suspicion of assaulting a local man over the weekend.
Police allege that Leone Lee Buggage, 34, punched a 62-year-old man’s face several times around 12:25 a.m. Sunday in the Habu area of Innoshima in Hiroshima prefecture, a spokesman for Hiroshima Prefectural Police told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday.
The man suffered head injuries, including bleeding around his brain and a broken eye socket, the spokesman said. Some government officials in Japan speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
A witness reported the incident to police, who arrested Buggage at 11:18 a.m. Monday after voluntary questioning at a police station, the spokesman said.
Buggage and the Japanese man did not know each other, according to the spokesman, who said the contractor was intoxicated during the incident. Buggage refused to say why he punched the man.
Buggage was working aboard a Navy ship docked at Innoshima, the spokesman said. Police were still investigating Buggage’s affiliation with the Navy, including the ship’s name.
Military Sealift Command Far East is “aware of an incident involving a contractor, who is working with a U.S. Navy ship, and not a U.S. government employee,” spokesman Grady Fontana told Stars and Stripes by email Tuesday.
He did not identify Buggage by name or the ship.
“We can confirm that he is being held by local Japanese authorities,” said Fontana, who directed further questions to the Hiroshima Prefectural Police and Military Sealift Command’s headquarters at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
A spokesperson at the sealift command did not immediately respond to an email requesting additional information after hours on Tuesday.
Buggage is a crew member of a ship docked at the island for repairs, local broadcaster RCC reported Monday.
He was still in custody on Tuesday morning, according to the police spokesman.
