NAHA, Okinawa — Okinawa police have released a 32-year-old Okinawa City bar bouncer arrested last month in the fatal fall of a civilian base employee.
A spokesman for the Naha District Public Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday that Ashley M. Miller, a former airman, was released after being held and questioned for 20 days in the death of Thomas Ball, 47, a Marine Corps Community Services employee on Camp Foster.
Miller was accused of pushing Ball down the steep concrete stairs of the second-floor landing of Fujiyama’s, a popular Gate Two Street nightspot in Okinawa City, on Dec. 11. According to Okinawa police, Miller shoved Ball during a 2:45 a.m. scuffle between Ball and another customer.
The case was referred to the prosecutor’s office for indictment Jan. 12.
Miller’s release from custody doesn’t mean the case is closed, a prosecutor’s office spokesman said Thursday.
“He was released because the period of his detention was over but ... whether or not to indict him is yet to be decided,” the spokesman said. “The disposition will be determined at a later date without taking him back into custody.”
Neither Miller nor his attorney could be reached for comment.
