Camp Foster Marine guilty in taxi theft

[unhappycamper]

Camp Foster Marine guilty in taxi theft
By Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, December 10, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa — A 22-year-old Marine pleaded guilty in a Japanese court Monday to stealing a taxi in October, driving it under the influence of alcohol and failing to report the traffic accidents he caused that night.

Lance Cpl. Matthew J. Eckersen, assigned to Headquarters and Service Battalion on Camp Foster, admitted he took the vehicle after discovering the key in the ignition at 6:45 p.m. Oct. 5 in Chatan’s American Village.

During the opening session in Naha District Court, prosecutor Yuki Mizuno said Eckersen drove the taxi southbound on Highway 58, with another Marine in the back seat, sparking a 15-minute car chase.

Eckersen bumped and scraped the sides of the five cars with the taxi at the Isa intersection in Ginowan, including two cars driven by Americans, according to the police report.

When damage rendered the taxi inoperable, Eckersen and the second Marine fled the scene on foot.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?article=59297