Okinawa police arrest US boy near robbery site

April 5, 2010
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Police in Okinawa have arrested the driver of a small minivan that hit a police patrol car near the site of a taxi robbery.

Police say that 2 young men, apparently foreigners, robbed about 100 dollars from a taxi by threatening its 55-year-old driver with a knife-like object on Sunday night.

The 2 men got off the taxi in Chatan Town, leaving the driver unharmed.

During a search for the robbers, police found an apparently stolen small minivan several hundred meters away from the site of the robbery.

In an effort to escape, the vehicle hit a police car before it collided with a vending machine and stopped.

Police arrested the non-Japanese teenage driver on charges of obstructing official police duties.

The suspect told police that he is the son of a US soldier, and a 16-year-old high school student.

Police are trying to confirm his identity with the US military authorities and are looking into any connection with the taxi robbery.

2010/04/05 07:36(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)