Japanese diplomat in SF charged with spousal abuse S.F. crime

Yoshiaki Nagaya, 32, faces 16 charges related to domestic violence after police say he repeatedly injured his wife in San Mateo County. Nagaya, who is vice consul general for Japan, pleaded not guilty on Monday, May 7, 2012. less Yoshiaki Nagaya, 32, faces 16 charges related to domestic violence after police say he repeatedly injured his wife in San Mateo County. Nagaya, who is vice consul general for Japan, pleaded not guilty on ... more Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff, Courtesy Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff, Courtesy Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Japanese diplomat in SF charged with spousal abuse 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

(05-09) 09:51 PDT SAN BRUNO -- Japan's vice consul general in San Francisco has pleaded not guilty to 16 domestic violence charges after prosecutors say he stabbed his wife in the hand with a screwdriver and knocked her teeth out during their brief marriage.

Yoshiaki Nagaya, 32, was arrested in March after his wife told police he had thrown her from a slow-moving car during an argument in a parking garage near the couple's San Bruno apartment, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Tuesday.

She said her husband had repeatedly injured her from January 2011, about a month after the couple married, until she went to police, Wagstaffe said. She provided investigators with photos of each injury, the prosecutor said.

The wife is "much smaller" than Nagaya, Wagstaffe said.

Nagaya's attorney did not return a call seeking comment.

Nagaya has worked as a liaison in the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco for almost two years and often meets with tech company officials in Silicon Valley, said Michio Harada, deputy consul general. He has not been suspended from work, Harada said.

"We are very much interested in the development of the judicial proceedings," Harada said. "If true, it is quite regrettable.

"But this is a private matter" between Nagaya and the courts, Harada added. "What happened to him and his wife, we don't know if the charges are true or not."

Nagaya entered his not-guilty plea Monday and is scheduled to return to court June 14. He is free on $350,000 bail.

Nagaya is not protected by diplomatic immunity because his alleged crimes were not committed while he was working, Wagstaffe said.

"This is totally his private life, and the immunity does not extend" to that, Wagstaffe said.