OKINAWA CITY — A 31-year-old airman accused of theft has been released from Okinawa police custody, a Naha District Public Prosecutor’s Office spokesman has said.
Sgt. Jamieo Carter, assigned to Kadena Air Base, was released March 17 after being held and questioned for 10 days about the theft of $17,000 of equipment earlier this month from a Mihama tattoo parlor owned by his Okinawan girlfriend, the spokesman said.
According to a police report, Carter entered the shop in the early morning hours of March 3, using a duplicate key. He is suspected of hauling away 1,642 items, including the woman’s pet American cocker spaniel and a fax machine.
The incident appeared to be the result of a squabble between Carter and his girlfriend, police said.
Most of the items were recovered the next day after being discovered in bushes near the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Onna. Carter was seen nearby and taken in for questioning, police said.
The woman’s dog was recovered a week later but died four days after that due to stress, according to a local veterinarian.
Okinawa police filed charges of burglary and theft against Carter with the Naha Public Prosecutor’s Office two days after he was taken into custody. However, the prosecutor decided not to seek an immediate indictment, the prosecutor’s office has said.
That Carter was released from police custody doesn’t mean the case is closed, a prosecutor’s office spokesman said Thursday. “Whether or not to indict him is yet to be decided,” the spokesman said.
Carter was at Kadena Air Base on Wednesday. Airmen facing potential action under the Japanese judicial system typically are placed on international hold, according to an 18th Wing spokesman, “which basically means they can’t leave the island until the matter is resolved.”
