A U.S. Marine on exercise in eastern Australia was arrested Tuesday and charged in connection with multiple assaults after an incident at an Australian army base.
The 20-year-old, whose name hasn’t been released, allegedly dragged a 60-year-old female Australian Defence Force employee out of her car as she sat in the Gallipoli Barracks’ parking lot and physically assaulted her at approximately 3:15 p.m., the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The Marine then, allegedly, assaulted an off-duty Queensland Police officer who attempted to intervene with military police.
The woman suffered “serious” but non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital, Brisbane’s The Courier-Mail newspaper and the broadcaster reported. She was treated and later released.
Police told the newspaper that the Marine and the woman did not know each other, and it is unknown what sparked the attack.
Australia’s Defence Department is providing support to the woman.
The Marine — who is with Marine Rotational Force — Darwin (MRF-Darwin) — was charged with the serious assault of a person over 60, assaulting a police officer and willfully damaging the woman’s car, the outlets reported. He is due in Brisbane Magistrates Court on July 18.
MRF-Darwin officials acknowledged the arrest Friday but said it was “inappropriate” to provide further details due to the ongoing judicial process.
“The Marine Corps takes this incident very seriously and is working closely with local officials,” MRF-Darwin spokesman 1st Lt. Jose Uriarte wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes.
The Gallipoli Barracks are located in Enoggera, which is in northwestern Brisbane.
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