OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — A U.S. Air Force lieutenant was charged Friday with bribery, extortion, rape and other misconduct in connection with an alleged shakedown scandal while he headed the Air Force police team that patrols the bar district outside Osan Air Base.
The officer, 1st Lt. Jason D. Davis of the 51st Security Forces Squadron, also was charged with assault, larceny, adultery, violations of regulations and lawful orders, willful dereliction of duty, making false official statements and conduct unbecoming an officer, according to a U.S. Forces Korea news release.
Davis headed the squadron’s Songtan Town Patrol, which patrols the off-base Shinjang-Dong commercial district, an enclave of bars, clubs, clothing stores, eateries and other establishments catering mainly to U.S. servicemembers.
Base officials since have reshuffled the town patrol amid allegations by bar owners that some of its members shook them down for bribes and sexual favors.
Davis also faces prosecution by South Korean authorities on charges of possessing weapons at an off-base residence, in violation of South Korean law, according to USFK.
South Korean authorities may file additional charges later, USFK said.
Davis has been jailed at Camp Humphreys since March 1 pending a yet-to-be-scheduled Article 32 hearing — the military equivalent of a civilian grand jury.
A hearing officer will weigh evidence presented by prosecution and defense lawyers and determine whether a court-martial is warranted.
The town patrol airmen raised the threat of having individual bars put off-limits to U.S. troops, according to South Korean media reports and a civic group that staged a peaceful protest rally outside the base on March 29.
If town patrol members deem a bar unsafe for U.S. military personnel or suspect it’s a venue for prostitution, human trafficking, underage drinking or other illicit activity, they can recommend that base authorities place it off-limits to U.S. military personnel.
“If your club is tagged ‘off limits’ it’s like a death sentence,” the South Korean newspaper Joong Ang Daily quoted one shop owner as saying in a March 29 story.
The alleged shakedowns and ensuing news accounts triggered the March 29 demonstration outside the base’s main gate by Task Force To Oppose The Expansion of the U.S. Bases in Pyongtaek, a South Korean civic group.
Kim Yong-han, a member of the group, said bar owners told him of occasions when town patrol members would allegedly enter a bar and pretend to notice a violation of some type, in some instances of health or fire-safety codes. They would then say that the purported violation was grounds for having the bar put off-limits, according to Kim.
Kim said some owners would offer bribes; others, sexual favors.
