A U.S. sailor indicted Feb. 3 on a charge of auto theft and accused of hitting a Sasebo, Japan, police officer with a vehicle and then leaving the scene faces more charges, according to a spokesman for the Nagasaki District Public Prosecutors Office in Sasebo.

Along with the auto theft count, prosecutors on Wednesday charged Seaman Apprentice Brandon R. Jackson, 21, with hit-and run, driving without a license, interfering with officers in the line of duty and bodily injury, the spokesman said.

Jackson, assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, is accused of stealing a van Dec. 7 and dragging the 22-year-old officer about 30 feet, causing minor cuts and bruises and ripping off his pants, according to police. Jackson allegedly fled the scene, crashed the van through a base gate and abandoned the vehicle in a family housing area.

The American sailor remains in Japanese police custody, the spokesman said.

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