A U.S. Navy sailor was arrested Sunday on suspicion of trespassing at a house in the port city of Yokosuka in the early hours of the morning, police said.
Petty Officer 2nd class Richard Lawton, who is stationed at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka but was scheduled to leave Japan for home on Thursday, was drunk at the time of his arrest at the house at 2:40 a.m., the police said.
Lawton's arrest is the latest involving U.S. military personnel despite an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. nationwide curfew imposed on all branches following the alleged rape of a woman in Okinawa by two U.S. sailors in October.
"I thought that my friend was there," the police quoted Lawton, 24, as saying.
Lawton had been staying at friends' places since Wednesday, the police said, adding that the house he entered, about 5 km northwest of the base, was unlocked at the time.
A 32-year-old woman who was waiting in the living room for her husband to return detected Lawton's entry and called the police.
The couple said they do not know the sailor, the police said.