Photo/Illutration The Okinawa prefectural police headquarters in Naha (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

NAHA—Okinawa prefectural police arrested a U.S. Marine on suspicion of negligent driving and fleeing from a traffic accident that injured four people, including two children, on May 25.

Ivan Garcia Martinez, a 20-year-old lance corporal stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Hansen, denied the hit-and-run allegation.

“I caused the accident, but I provided first aid for the injured,” sources quoted him as saying.

The Naha Police Station said Martinez was driving on National Route 58 in the Aja district in Naha at around 10:30 a.m. on May 25, when his car hit an adjacent vehicle.

The impact caused the vehicle to overturn, resulting in minor injuries to four people, including the female driver, 39, from Urasoe in the prefecture, a 10-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy.

The suspect was not at the scene of the accident when police arrived. But he was later found nearby.

A test showed his blood-alcohol level was about twice the legal limit, police said.

A series of alcohol-related incidents involving U.S. military personnel have recently been reported in Okinawa Prefecture.

On May 26, prefectural police arrested a 23-year-old member of the U.S. Marine Corps stationed at Camp Schwab on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Okinawa police on May 25 arrested a U.S. soldier on suspicion of breaking into a residence. On May 23, another U.S. service member was arrested for alleged public indecency.

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