Police allege that Lance Cpl. Helder Molina, 29, of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, drove off in a car that was parked with its engine running on Sunday, April 2, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — Japanese police arrested an enlisted Marine on suspicion of auto theft Sunday morning after he was stopped in a car that was reported stolen less than an hour earlier, an Iwakuni Police spokesman said Tuesday.

Police allege that Lance Cpl. Helder Molina, 29, of MCAS Iwakuni, drove off in a car that was parked with its engine running at 5:53 a.m. on Marifu Cho Street, 1 ½ miles north of the base.

The car’s owner, a 50-year-old woman, reported the alleged theft to police, who found Molina driving the vehicle, the spokesman said.

Molina told the police that he did not steal the car, said the spokesman, who declined to provide further details, citing an open investigation. Some government officials in Japan are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.

“We are aware of this matter,” base spokesman 1st Lt. Aaron Ellis said by email Tuesday. “We take all allegations seriously, and are fully cooperating with the local investigation.”

Molina was still in police custody as of Tuesday morning, the police spokesman said.

This is the second case of alleged car theft involving a Marine in Iwakuni since December. Japanese prosecutors charged Lance Cpl. Dominic Youngren with stealing a car from a local dealership on Dec. 3 and crashing into another vehicle. Youngren has been charged with illegally entering a car dealership, theft, negligent driving resulting in injuries and violations of Japan’s Road Traffic Law.