MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Orentlal S. Steward, a 29-year-old staff sergeant assigned to the 35th Logistics Readiness Squadron here, died Sunday from injuries he sustained in an off-base motorcycle crash, base officials reported Tuesday.
The accident occurred around 5 p.m. Sunday on a narrow road near the Misawa city ice rink, according to base officials and local news accounts.
A story in Monday’s Too Nippo said that Steward’s motorcycle “fell and slid” on a city road in Fukaya 1-chome in Misawa city and collided with a car driven by Yoko Kimura, a 67-year-old Misawa city office worker.
It was not clear whether Steward fell off his bike before the vehicle struck him.
Base officials still were investigating the accident’s cause Tuesday afternoon. Misawa police, according to Too Nippo, said Steward fell at a left curve and slid to the right side of the road.
Steward was taken to a hospital in Misawa city, where he died around 7 p.m. Sunday from internal injuries.
Steward was from Lilbourn, Mo. He had no immediate family members at Misawa, base officials said.
The base is planning a memorial service but the time and date were not set by press time Tuesday.