Okinawa police have arrested a 32-year-old American tourist on suspicion of arson and attempted murder after a predawn fire tore through a budget hotel in Chatan last month.
The suspect is Poseidon Alexander Roberson, a self-described company employee with no fixed address. Police say that around 3:30 a.m. on August 15 he started a fire at the container-style lodging where he was staying alone, knowing other guests were asleep inside. Nineteen people were booked in that night, including him. The charge is that he meant to kill the rest of them.
A man in his 50s from Osaka was found unconscious in one of the burned rooms. He suffered airway burns, carbon monoxide poisoning, and acute respiratory failure. He later woke from a coma and is still in hospital, though reports say he is improving. A U.S. military-affiliated man who tried to help was also treated. A rental car in the parking lot burned too. It took firefighters about three and a half hours to put the blaze out.
Roberson was already in custody when the arson charges landed. On August 21 he was caught trespassing at a commercial complex in Urasoe and arrested on the spot. Investigators then tied him to the Chatan fire and re-arrested him on September 1. Police have not said whether he is admitting anything. Motive is still under investigation.
Chatan is usually the beach-and-American-Village side of Okinawa, not the place you expect a sleeping hotel guest to wake up in a burned-out room. This one is going to stay ugly for a while.