NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Police arrested a U.S. soldier Friday on suspicion of involvement in a November fatal hit-and-run in Yomitan, Okinawa, after the suspect was formally charged.

Staff Sgt. Clyde Gunn, 27, based at the Torii Communication Station, allegedly hit and killed Masakazu Hokama, 66, while driving a car on Nov. 7.

The police turned Gunn's case over to prosecutors Monday, pursuing a charge of negligent driving resulting in death, and the prosecutors indicted him Thursday on the technical charge of vehicular manslaughter.

This enabled domestic authorities to have him handed over in line with the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement that governs the operations of the U.S. military in Japan.

Gunn's lawyer quoted him as saying he was not aware he had hit somebody and he wants to apologize to the man's family if he really hit the victim. However, Gunn has also suggested he will refuse to be interrogated unless the process is recorded audio-visually.

He has been questioned three times voluntarily by local police but has refused to cooperate with an official interrogation since Nov. 14, arguing that their questioning was problematic from a human rights viewpoint.