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Misawa airman arrested in forcible touching

AOMORI, Japan — A U.S. airman stationed at Misawa Air Base was arrested Friday on charges of groping a 19-year-old woman while she was walking home, said a spokesman from Hachinohe police.

Airman 1st Class James Littlejohn, 22, allegedly hugged the woman from behind, then forcibly touched her breasts and buttocks, the police spokesman said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

Police said Littlejohn then fled in his car but was taken into custody after police stopped his car based on a description from the woman.

The case is a fresh embarrassment to some 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan under a security pact, following higher-profile arrests earlier this year. A 22-year-old Nigerian in the Navy was charged in April in the fatal stabbing of a taxi driver south of Tokyo. A Marine charged in the rape of a 14-year-old girl in southern Okinawa in February is set to be court-martialed. These incidents have inflamed long-simmering anger at the American military presence, which is blamed for crime, pollution and crowding.

Deputy Cmdr. Joel Malone of Misawa Air Base visited the cities of Hachinohe and Misawa to smooth relations with officials there following Littlejohn’s arrest.

“We take every incident such as this very seriously and we will cooperate with the investigation,” he told Hachinohe Mayor Makoto Kobayashi in a partially televised visit. Kobayashi demanded the Air Force step up troop discipline.