Japanese police have arrested a Marine lance corporal suspected of breaking into a home in Hiroshima city on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — Japanese police arrested a Marine lance corporal on suspicion of breaking into a home in Hiroshima city on Saturday night, according to the Marines and Hiroshima prefectural police.
Lance Cpl. Steven Frank Altamirano, 22, stationed at MCAS Iwakuni, was taken into custody around 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the Koinaka area of the city’s Nishi ward, a police spokesman said Monday.
Altamirano is accused of breaking a window and entering the home of a 78-year-old Japanese man, who called police around 9:20 p.m., the spokesman said. The two did not know each other.
The spokesman said Altamirano was intoxicated at the time and told officers he doesn’t remember what happened.
It’s customary in Japan for some government officials to speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
An MCAS Iwakuni spokesman, Maj. Joshua Diddams, confirmed the arrest.
“Our command is already fully cooperating with Japanese authorities as they investigate this incident, and we treat all allegations of misconduct seriously,” he told Stars and Stripes in an email Monday. “No further information is available at this time due to the ongoing police investigation.”
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