A 24-year-old airman assigned to Kadena Air Base has apologized to the family a boy he’s accused of beating last month during an apartment break-in in Yomitan Village.

The American serviceman met with the parents of the 13-year-old boy he’s accused of assaulting while breaking into the family’s third-floor apartment.  The airman had been drinking in a bar on the first floor, and while drunk, went to the third floor and broke in.  He struck the boy and damaged a family television before trying to flee by jumping from a window.

He escaped the apartment, but got no farther as he was injured when striking the ground.  Police found him on the scene.  He was taken to the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa with broken bones.

The incident has stirred Okinawa emotions about misconduct on the part of U.S. military personnel.  The incident came only two weeks after two sailors raped an Okinawa girl. It happened while the military command had ordered an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for all military personnel.  The drinking incident came at 1 a.m. on November 2^nd, when the GI should have been on base.

The serviceman has said he wants to make amends for his deeds.  He’s visited the Yomitan Village Office, accompanied by two senior military personnel, says Yomitan Mayor Denjitsu Ishimine, who attended the meeting.  The boy who was assaulted was able to watch the proceedings via closed circuit television from another room within the municipal offices.

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