German Pilot Faces Wee Fine in Lithuania

A German air force pilot who is in Lithuania on a three-month NATO tour of duty patrolling Baltic airspace faces a fine and a dressing down by local police and his superiors after he was caught urinating on a public building, police said Friday. According to a spokeswoman for the police in the northern town of Siauliai, the German pilot was caught short in the wee hours of Friday and sought relief against the side of Siauliai's courthouse. He faces a fine of up to 87 euros ($104) by the Lithuanian authorities, who consider urinating on a public building an act of vandalism. Police spokeswoman Gailute Smagriuniene said the pilot had 2.66 grams of alcohol in his blood, "considered a high level of intoxication in Lithuania." He was detained briefly by local police before being handed over to the Lithuanian military police, who identified him as part of the German NATO airspace contingent, which on Thursday took over patrols of the Baltic skies from the Dutch air force. The drunken soldier was handed over to his superior officers and, according to the spokesman for the German contingent in Lithuania, Jürgen Löffler, will first have to explain himself in a civil court in Lithuania and then face a German military hearing.