The Naha Summary Court on Wednesday fined a U.S. serviceman stationed in Okinawa 400,000 yen for injuring a man in a hit-and-run earlier in the month.
Johnny Miller, a 21-year-old staff sergeant stationed at the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base on Okinawa's main island, was released shortly afterward. He was indicted earlier in the day on a charge of slightly injuring 27-year-old company employee Takeya Higa in Okinawa city on July 9.
The incident, which occurred after the alleged molestation of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine on July 3 in the prefecture, provoked fury among Okinawa residents.
The incidents led to wide-ranging protests involving the prefectural assembly, local municipalities, political parties and civic groups.
In response, the U.S. military in Okinawa imposed an indefinite late-night curfew and a ban on after-midnight drinking by its personnel on July 11.
During the weekend's Group of Eight summit in the prefecture, U.S. President Bill Clinton urged U.S. troops stationed in Okinawa to be good neighbors to the local population following the recent series of incidents involving U.S. military personnel.
According to the court order, Miller drove through a red light and hit Higa, who was crossing the street, at 3:05 a.m. on July 9 and drove away. Higa suffered injuries that took five days to heal.
The serviceman returned to the accident site 20 minutes later and claimed that a Marine had been driving his car at the time of the incident.
However, police learned shortly afterward that Miller was the driver, according to the court.