SEOUL — Two U.S. soldiers were detained in separate incidents in Itaewon on Sunday: one for hitting a woman with a beer bottle in a bar and then fighting police, and another for stealing money from a taxi driver, South Korean police said.
According to police, a 22-year-old female private with the 2nd Infantry Division was detained at the XO bar at 4:30 a.m. after she threw a bottle at a South Korean woman. The injured woman, 25, was taken to a hospital and received stitches for a 2-inch gash to her forehead.
Police say the soldier bit a responding police officer’s arm and tried to tear off his vest, leaving scratch wounds. She also told police that she was an English teacher, gave them a false name, and, at the police station, broke parts of a fence separating police from detainees, police said.
Police said the soldier was intoxicated. She faces charges of inflicting bodily harm, interfering with a government official’s execution of duty, use of violence and public property damage.
Maj. Kimeisha McCullum, 2nd ID spokeswoman, said she could not confirm details of the incident because it still is under investigation.
South Korean police also said a 29-year-old staff sergeant was detained earlier Sunday for stealing 34,000 won (about $37) from a taxi driver outside the Capital Hotel, though U.S. Forces Korea and 8th Army spokesmen said they had no confirmation of the incident.
Police said the soldier paid for the 3,800-won ride from the Hamilton Hotel with a 5,000-won bill. When he and a friend got out of the taxi at 12:30 a.m., the driver gave him 1,200 won in change and began counting his money, police said.
The staff sergeant went back to the taxi, police said, took the money from the driver and fled. He later was caught by police and told them a third friend, who got out of the taxi at an earlier stop, had paid the driver too much.
The staff sergeant said he was trying to get some of the money back, but the taxi driver said the third man paid him nothing.
South Korean police said both soldiers dropped off at the Capital Hotel were turned over to U.S. custody.
