A Navy officer jailed in Japan over a deadly car crash that killed two Japanese citizens has been transferred into U.S. custody and is being returned to the United States, his family said Thursday.
Lt. Ridge Alknois had been serving a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the negligent driving deaths of an elderly woman and her son-in-law in May 2021.
“After 507 days, Lt. Ridge Alkonis is on his way home to the United States. We are encouraged by Ridge’s transfer back to the United States but cannot celebrate until Ridge has been reunited with his family,” the family, based in Dana Point, California, said in a statement to The Associated Press. “We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Government to effect this transfer and are glad that an impartial set of judiciary eyes will review his case for the first time.”
His family has said the naval officer abruptly lost consciousness in the car after a lunch and ice cream excursion with his wife and children to Mount Fuji, causing him to slump over behind the wheel after suffering acute mountain sickness. But Japanese prosecutors and the judge who sentenced him contend he fell asleep while drowsy, shirking a duty to pull over immediately.
