YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Japanese prosecutors have decided not to charge a USS George Washington sailor who was arrested for trespassing after he allegedly ran from a police officer earlier this month.
Seaman Apprentice Manuel Silva, 20, was released from custody after the case was dropped Monday, a spokesman for Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office in Yokosuka said Wednesday.
The prosecutor’s office declined to discuss why the case was dropped.
The decision is the second trespassing case involving a U.S. sailor that prosecutors declined to pursue this month.
Silva was arrested after police received calls from residents of a Shiori-cho neighborhood, near Yokosuka Naval Base, reporting that a man was ringing doorbells at about 3 a.m. on Jan. 21.
Silva was found hiding outside on an elderly woman’s property, next to her washing machine and laundry rack, according to Yokosuka police. Silva registered a 0.06 blood alcohol level, a police spokesman said.
Silva remains subject to discipline by the Navy. Under a curfew imposed in October, all U.S. servicemembers in Japan are required to be on base or in their off-base residence from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Navy rules further ban sailors E1-E4 from being alone off-base after 7 p.m. The curfew was imposed soon after two Texas-based sailors were arrested for the alleged rape of a woman on Okinawa in October.
Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.
