Japanese prosecutors drop case against airman accused of smashing up liquor store

Prosecutors, not police, decide formal charges under Japan's justice system. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

Japanese prosecutors dropped their case against a U.S. airman accused of breaking into and smashing up an Okinawa liquor store last year, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Police in Naha city filed a report of unlawful entry against Airman 1st Class Orlando Osuna to the Naha District Prosecutors Office, which ultimately decided against filing charges, an office spokesman told Stars and Stripes.

Prosecutors, not police, decide formal charges under Japan’s criminal justice system.

Osuna, then 23, was arrested on suspicion of breaking into the store in Naha’s Makishi area on March 3, 2024, a Naha police spokesman said the following day.

The prosecutors’ spokesman did not explain why the case was dropped. Some Japanese officials are required to speak to the media on condition of anonymity.

Osuna did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment Wednesday.

Crime and courts

Hana Kusumoto

Hana Kusumoto is a reporter/translator who has been covering local authorities in Japan since 2002. She was born in Nagoya, Japan, and lived in Australia and Illinois growing up. She holds a journalism degree from Boston University and previously worked for the Christian Science Monitor’s Tokyo bureau.

Seth Robson

Seth Robson is a Tokyo-based reporter who has been with Stars and Stripes since 2003. He has been stationed in Japan, South Korea and Germany, with frequent assignments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Australia and the Philippines.

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Japanese prosecutors drop case against airman accused of smashing up liquor store

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