U.S. Navy man arrested after breaking into apartment, taking shower

Subdued him? Why is it I want to either laugh or slap the writer up side the head here? Come one, not everyone who is drunk and takes a shower is a threat.

The Japanese guy could have very well just asked the guy to sit down too ya know!

Police said Williams apparently entered the apartment through the front door which was unlocked, as there were no signs that he had broken a window.

Some pretty trusting folks in that town! I wonder, does the sailor live in the same building?

This is the point where I usually share my favorite drunk military acquaintance story about a newly enlisted Air Force member who stood up in a packed movie theater, started peeing in the aisle, was forcefully dragged away still peeing, and was never seen or heard from again.

My guess is that the Japanese authorities will hand this case over to the Americans, the offending person will likely have to apologize and pay the victims, and then he himself will receive a Big Chicken Dinner because of the bad press. Oh, and the Navy will have another knee-jerk reaction where they ban drinking by military members and restrict them to base during their off-duty hours all because of one dumbass.

Subdued him? Why is it I want to either laugh or slap the writer up side the head here? Come one, not everyone who is drunk and takes a shower is a threat.

Pure, unsupported speculation. There is no reason to doubt the article.

Well how do you subdue some one who's just had a shower, do you rugby tackle them in the hallway.

Maybe he tried all the showers, but this one was a Toto, at least he was a clean drunk, but imagine being in his shoes, you come out of a shower naked and get subdued by a forty four year old man, he was probably screaming poor hungover Marine.

He was quoted by police as saying he was drunk and didn’t know how he ended up in the apartment.

Wonder if this will work for him as well as it does for Japanese men who use this defense!!

Let’s hope this nutter gets a psych evaluation and treatment for alcohol abuse.

Wonder if this will work for him as well as it does for Japanese men who use this defense!!

When has it ever worked for a Japanese man?

And to think, if this guy hadn't needed to use the toilet, he would have gotten away before anyone knew.

I can never understand how people can not lock thier doors when they sleep. I'm paranoid about that. Sleep time is when you're most vulnerable. I simply can't sleep unless I know my door is locked.

Anyway, it was so far not too bad an ending.  The host was not harmed, or the intruder was neither injured nor dead.

Also, it's not breaking and entering if he just walked through the front door. It's trespassing. Hopefully this guy didn't get arrested on trumped up charges.

And it's amazing how people here cover him up, making all kind of excuses and even protect him on legal sides. He IS a criminal for breaking in without permission.

Melody, you're out of tune again. You are mistaken. This is not breaking and entering. It's trespassing.

@Bugle

The result is the same. He was at a place where he was not supposed to be. Fact. Period. End of the story.

@Merody

Yah. I know. That's what trespassing is.

The result is not the same. No damages were made. No one was injured. The legal ramifications are not the same. Fact. Period. Possibly to be continued...

Well, he's going from pay grade E5 to E zero.

And it's amazing how people here cover him up, making all kind of excuses and even protect him on legal sides.

I don't see any posts here by anyone trying to 'cover him up' or make any excuses for him.

I think you just said that without bothering to read the actual comments that are here.

And it's amazing how people here cover him up, making all kind of excuses and even protect him on legal sides. He IS a criminal for breaking in without permission.

No one is covering for him. He committed a crime. We are saying that he needs to be charged for the crime he committed, not some trumped up nonsense. B&E is far more serious crime will call for stricter punishment.

I think the young man needs to go through alcohol rehabilitation. This one mistake should not destroy his life. I wonder if he was on medicine that could of caused this blackout.

I'm wondering if the poor sailor didn't confuse his apartment for the one he went into. Apparently, it's beyond the reporting ability of JT to ascertain where the guy lived, and if it was possible that he lived in that building, and simply went into the wrong apartment. It's not like there's a huge bit of variety in Japanese apartments, especially the kind that have the opening to the apartment on a balcony and it's essentially a cookie-cutter layout inside like all the rest.

On top of that, he didn't BREAK and ENTER. He simply entered the wrong apartment, and that could be called trespassing, IF HE HAD INTENT. Japanese law is clear on this - it must be established that he intended to do this and they have to prove that. And while nobody should be drunk enough to mistake someone else's apartment for another, it's not like this doesn't happen to Japanese, as well. At least it doesn't sound as though he threw up on the floor, unlike the many pools of barf I see in the train station.

But, I guess if JT doesn't report it like this, it won't be a sensation and sell more papers and generate more bad vibes against Americans in Atsugi, when actually, it was a non-event other than the guy was drunk and probably just wanted to go to sleep and mistook his apartment for someone else's that had left the door unlocked.

Frankly, I'd rather deal with a situation like this than to put up with the crazy idiots on 400CC kawasaki 2 cyl bozo-soko bikes razzing their engines at top rpm at 0200 through the neighborhood, but apparently Japanese folks don't have a problem with those morons disturbing the peace and making asses out of themselves.

Subdued him? Why is it I want to either laugh or slap the writer up side the head here? Come one, not everyone who is drunk and takes a shower is a threat.

I guarantee if you woke up and found a strange man came into your home while you were sleeping and was taking a shower, you would consider him a threat.

He was quoted by police as saying he was drunk and didn’t know how he ended up in the apartment.

Wonder if this will work for him as well as it does for Japanese men who use this defense!!

When has it ever worked for a Japanese man?

Stranger, are you kidding? It has worked for countless thousands of Japanese men. Do you not read JT's crime section very often?

He be forcibly returned to the US and be made to live with those that don't just subdue home invading terrorists.

A case of mistaken hygenity?

He's going to get showered with criticism and insults when he gets back to base, that's for sure.

"Lots of people are trying to cover him up..."

I surely hope so. He was naked ;)=

Another unruly service member. Ridiculous.

sensei258Feb. 3 07:48 am JSTMy guess is that the Japanese authorities will hand this case over to the Americans, the offending person will likely have to apologize and pay the victims, and then he himself will receive a Big Chicken Dinner because of the bad press. Oh, and the Navy will have another knee-jerk reaction where they ban drinking by military members and restrict them to base during their off-duty hours all because of one dumbass.

That's what you learn early in your life in American schools - one jerk spoils it all for everyone. Not to mention making Americans look bad. We have a terrible image to the world as it is right now.

JapanFanFeb. 3 03:00 pm JSTWell, he's going from pay grade E5 to E zero.

E-1 is the lowest. He can be busted one pay grade per offense only. B + E, drunk and disorderly, more?

At the very least PO2 Dominic Nathaniel Williams won't be an E-5 for much longer.

Starpunk:

If I may, the amount a person may be reduced in rank depends upon who's doing it. For example, a squadron commander could take off one rank, a wing or group could take off two...pizz off a general and you could go from E8 to E2 (chiefs E9 have a bit more legal protection). Air Force, sorry.

juminRheeToday 03:58 am JSTStarpunk:

If I may, the amount a person may be reduced in rank depends upon who's doing it. For example, a squadron commander could take off one rank, a wing or group could take off two...pizz off a general and you could go from E8 to E2 (chiefs E9 have a bit more legal protection). Air Force, sorry.

I'm just saying that was how it was when I was in the Navy. Of course, a court-martial can take a person all the way down to E-1 (bottom) from any rank (I've seen that done) for the most serious offenses. As for Article 15/Captain's Mast it can vary. And yes, pizz off a general/admiral and anything goes. That's how it is in the Navy. Any other branches, I dunno.

My guess is that Dominic Nathaniel Williams will have at least 2 report chits (charges) on him: breaking and entering, drunk and disorderly, possibly more. That could lead to a bust for each offense right there. Again, it's like you said - it depends upon who's doing it. Either way, this guy made the US Navy look bad and his superior is going to 'make an example' out of him - one way or another.

Just think if he had used his commanding officer's shower. He would be hanging from the nearest yardarm.

Stranger, are you kidding? It has worked for countless thousands of Japanese men. Do you not read JT's crime section very often?

I read it all the time, and while I regularly see stories where suspects point out that they were drunk, I've never seen a single case on JT where someone got a lighter punishment as a result.

Stranger, are you kidding? It has worked for countless thousands of Japanese men. Do you not read JT's crime section very often?

As Stranger stated, I read the crime section regularly and see it regularly trotted out. However, I never read about it being effective.