Four US soldiers charged in Tigris River death

11.15am

DENVER - Four US soldiers have been charged in the drowning death of an Iraqi man forced to jump off a bridge into the Tigris River, according to newspaper reports on Friday.

The soldiers were part of a patrol that detained two Iraqi men for a late-night curfew violation, then ordered them to jump off the bridge in the northern Iraqi town of Samarra on Jan. 3, according to the Rocky Mountain News. One swam ashore, but the other drowned.

The four soldiers are from the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, which returned to Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs, from Iraq in April after a one-year deployment, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

First Lt. Jack Saville and Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins were charged with manslaughter, assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, the newspaper quoted a Fort Carson spokeswoman as saying.

Sgt. Reggie Martinez was charged with manslaughter, and Spc. Terry Bowman was charged with assault. All four were also charged with making false statements to cover up the death.

It is the second prisoner death case involving Fort Carson soldiers, the Denver Post said. The newspaper reported last month that two military intelligence officers at Fort Carson face in the fatal smothering of an Iraqi general in November.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq