A “heavily intoxicated” Okinawa-based Marine was arrested Monday on accusations that he stole a donation box containing about $50 for flood and landslide victims in western Japan.
Jonathan McKinley, 20, of Camp Hansen, is accused of taking the box from near a convenience store cash register while on leave in Kyoto, said Deputy Chief Kohichi Yamada, a Kyoto-Nakagyo Police spokesman.
McKinley, whose rank was unknown Tuesday, then entered an izakaya, or Japanese pub, presented the donation box to the staff and demanded food and drinks, Yamada said. After being refused service, he smashed the box on the floor, scattering its contents.
McKinley was arrested at the izakaya after getting into a fight with a friend, Yamada said. He was still in custody Tuesday, pending charges.
McKinley “has not admitted his charges as he does not remember stealing the box,” Yamada said.
Relief efforts are ongoing after rains in late June and July caused flooding and landslides that killed at least 220 people in 14 prefectures, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported.
In July, more than 50 servicemembers from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni joined local volunteer efforts to clean flood-damaged homes.
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