GINOWAN, Okinawa Prefecture--A U.S. Air Force serviceman was arrested here Dec. 24 on suspicion of drunken driving, less than two weeks after the U.S. military lifted an alcohol ban imposed on personnel in Japan.

Jerryl Leonard Franklin Jr., 22, who is stationed at the Kadena Air Base, has denied the allegations.

“I had drinks, but I thought I sobered up,” Okinawa prefectural police quoted him as saying.

According to the Ginowan Police Station, officers in a patrol car spotted Franklin’s civilian vehicle weaving on a city road in the Mashiki district of Ginowan at 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 24.

A Breathalyzer test showed he had a blood-alcohol level about two times the legal limit, according to police.

Crimes committed by U.S. servicemen are one of the reasons Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga is demanding a reduced U.S. military presence in the prefecture.

On Nov. 19, a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Kinser in Urasoe in the prefecture killed a Japanese man in a drunken driving accident.

U.S. forces prohibited all U.S. service members in Japan from drinking inside and outside of U.S. military bases. The ban was lifted on Dec. 13.